A Chance to Fix Everything
by SmashingPandas
Summary: A blast from somewhere along the lines rockets into the world of the DWMA. Leiko, a mystery girl, shows up on the front steps one day, claiming she's related to someone enrolled in the school. Saying she doesn't know, many believe there is more to her than she says. Will she be accepted as a regular girl, or will her plans blow up in her face? *Soul Eater belongs to Funomation*
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"How is she?" A man in a stitched-up lab coat asked, looking at a mysterious girl, laying unconscious one of the school nurse's hospital beds. This man was no one other than the infamous Fraken Stein: a teacher, and _almost_ criminally mad scientist, at the Death Weapon Meister Academy.

The DWMA is a school literally made to save the world from evil souls. Created by Lord Death, the current Grim Reaper, this school is an organization that trains young meisters and weapons to hunt evil souls, and prevent the rise of an evil demonic god, known as a Kishin. Weapons and meisters are trained to work together, and collect as many Kishin egg souls as possible. When a pair of students, or group in some cases, collects 99 Kishin eggs, and one witch soul, they are honored with having that weapon become a Death Scythe, the weapon used by Lord Death himself. The meister easily goes down in history as being the one who created Lord Death's weapon.

"I don't know," a student said. "She was passed out when Soul and I found her."

This student was the common bookworm, Maka Albarn. She has been a star student since she entered the DWMA as a meister, aiming to follow in her mother's footsteps. Her mother created the current Death Scythe, who is also Maka's father, Spirit. She tends to hate him, though, due to his cheating on her mother. Both Stein and Maka were watching the mystery girl in the nurse's office, trying to figure out what to do with her when she wakes up.

The girl in the nurse's office was unlike anyone these two had met in a way that seems like a paradox. This girl had no names or cards on her to tell anyone who she was, and appeared on the steps of the DWMA that morning, unconscious. She had snow white hair, with large bangs that covered most of her right eye, reaching down to her lower back. Her skin was a pale olive, with light, light pink lips that curved around her shark-like teeth. She was about the same height and weight as Maka, maybe an inch taller and ten pounds heavier. The blankets were pulled up to the base of her neck, concealing her clothes. She began to stir in her sleep, closed eyes tightening, and hands grabbing at the blankets.

"Where's the new chick?!" In barreling came a super-hyperactive boy, about Maka's age, followed by an older, extremely shy and quiet girl, a few years older than the two. The blue-haired boy went by the name of BlackStar, and his weapon's name being Tsubaki. Maka used her infamous "Maka Chop" to quiet the bouncing-off-the-walls boy, shutting him up and making blood drip down his face.

"Quiet!" Maka whispered. "She's still asleep."

"Not for long," Stein said, motioning for the three students to look at the girl.

She threw her arms above the blankets, like she was desperately reaching for something. Seconds after, her body shot up like a pistol shooting a bullet, and her eyes snapped open, revealing two crimson red orbs, widened in fear.

"No!" She screamed, looking at the wall opposite her. It took her a few seconds to realize she was in a safe environment. She looked at the four people surround her, and flashed a toothy grin. The four of them were a bit confused, and BlackStar decided to ask the questions. He got right up to her face, nose to nose.

"Who are ya? Where ya from? You better not be evil, or Tsubaki and I, the great BlackStar, will have to kill you and eat your soul!" BlackStar yelled in the girl's face, more than proud of himself. The girl smirked, and used her index finger to push the boy away from her face.

"Ya mind if I can get a breath in?" She asked. The girl stretched her arms, and threw her hands under the blankets. She worked her fingers into her pants' right pocket, and breathing a small sigh of relief to find what she had came with. The girl looked at Maka, and smiled an innocent smile. "You're Maka Albarn."

"Um, yeah," Maka said, a bit cautious now. "How'd you know that?"

"I have distant relatives here," the girl replied. "I've heard a bunch about you and-"

"I heard there was a new girl here," a suave, deep voice said, coming through the door. Soul Evans, usually known as Soul Eater, entered the nurse's office, wanting to be apart of the newest, "coolest" piece of gossip at the DWMA. When he saw the girl, he almost stopped in his tracks.

"Soul Evans," the girl said, smiling that innocent and happy smile again.

"Damn," Soul replied, walking up to the girl. "Talk about déjà vu. Looks like I'm looking in a gender-bent mirror."

"I guess she's related," Maka said, looking at the girl. "Right?"

The girl shrugged, and jumped out of her bed. Tsubaki and Maka freaked out, yelling at her to get back into her bed and rest until the nurse tells her it's okay to move around. The girl laughed, and walked around the room, almost boasting.

Her personality was almost completely revealed, just by her clothing choice. She wore a cut off, thin black fleece hoodie. The jacket had no zipper, or sides for that matter. You saw right through, revealing she had only her black bra on underneath, similar to Tsubaki's body figure. She also sported black jean short shorts, with a silver belt going across her waist, a pictogram of a soul as the belt buckle. Her shoes were outrageously different from what the DWMA has seen in years, being sneakers that reached to right below her knees.

"I'm fine," she said, flashing her shark-tooth grin again. "Leiko Evans cannot be beaten!" Leiko said, using Soul's shoulder as an armrest. He just looked at her, very confused.

"You're related to Soul, I'm assuming." Stein said, clicking the screw in his head, giving everyone shivers down their spines. Leiko shrugged again.

"I dunno," she said, looking at Soul. "My parents didn't tell me who, but I'm determined to find out," she said, voice flat. She didn't seem as interested as the others were about how creepily similar she and Maka's weapon looked. Leiko cracked her knuckles, and stood with her hands on her hips, facing the group of observers. She almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the laughing of an almost brain-dead student booming through the door, and into the nurse's office.

"New girl, new girl!" A blonde weapon sang, running up to Leiko. Her sister, Liz Thompson, pulled her sister away from Leiko, apologizing.

"I'm sorry about Patty, she gets excited about the simplest of things!" Liz said, embarrassed. The sister's meister walked in, looking for the newest slice of action in the school. Death the Kidd saw Leiko, and almost had a heart attack when he saw her bangs. He ran up to Leiko, trying to "fix" her hair.

"What the hell," she screamed, kicking him into a metal desk. "Warn a girl!"

"That's Kidd for ya," Liz said, even more embarrassed. Leiko fixed her bangs, looking Kidd mumble on about how her hair wasn't perfectly symmetrical.

"His hair isn't even-" she muttered. Before she could go on, four of the students tackled the new girl, yelling not to finish that sentence, excluding BlackStar, Patty, and Kidd. BlackStar was busy boasting about himself, Kidd sobbing over Leiko's hair, and Patty dancing around the room, singing about the new girl.

"He has a bit of OCD," Tsubaki said, motioning to Kidd.

"A bit?" Maka asked, concerned about Tsubaki's observations of Kidd's problem.

"He's a symmetrical nut," Soul said. Leiko nodded, trying to feel as though she's apart of the group. Before she could ask to see Lord Death, the bell rang, and a mob of students clogged the halls.

"How long have I been asleep?" Leiko asked, confused.

"The whole day," Maka said. "I went in early to study-"

"Which was a waste of time," Soul interrupted. Maka glared at him, and sighed, returning to the new girl.

"Anyway, I went in early, and found you passed out on the school's stairs. I had no idea what to do, but Professor Stein came minutes after I did, and helped me bring you here," she finished. Leiko pondered Maka's story as every one shuffled out of the office to their lockers, leaving Maka, Soul, and Stein.

"You have a place around here?" Soul asked. Leiko broke out of her thinking trance, and shook her head.

"I could find something cheap-"

"You can stay with us! Soul can sleep on the couch, and you can take his room!" Maka said, grabbing her hands, smiling. Soul's eyes widened, and he frowned in protest.

"Who said I'm giving up my room?!" Soul argued, unheard by the girls.

"Okay," Leiko said, smiling. Maka walked out of the office, telling Leiko to meet her at the front entrance, followed by an arguing Soul. Leiko was about to leave, until Stein spoke up.

"You're not here by accident, are you," he asked. Leiko didn't turn around, smile fading. "I can't tell what you're here for just yet, but believe me when I say this. If you plan to sneak into the system like Medusa did, it'll be nearly impossible."

"Trust me when I say this," Leiko replied, refusing to look at Stein. "I'd be a dumb-ass to hurt anyone here, especially Soul or Maka, or any of those guys."

Leiko left the office, getting stares and hearing whispers about her from surrounding students. She kept her eyes locket on her shoes, trying to cover her face with her bangs. The last thing she needed was for anyone here to figure out who she really was.

"Ready to go?" Leiko jumped a bit when she heard Maka right next to her, but smiled and nodded. She followed Maka, who was asking the kind of question she didn't mind answering. Soul followed behind the girls, getting a weird vibe from the new kid at school.

* * *

**Author's Note: New story time! Yay! So, I've had this idea in my head for ages, and I need to get it out. This story may not be as long and lengthy as my previous ones, so bear with me here :3 Remember, read, review, and enjoy!**

**~ Nicole**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"So you two live together," Leiko asked, looking at Maka on the walk home. Maka nodded. "Isn't kinda against parental morals for co-ed rooming? Especially for high school aged kids?"

"Lord Death assigned it to us," Maka replied, putting a key into a door lock, unlocking their apartment. "Honestly, it isn't that bad rooming with Soul. He isn't too much of a pervert. There's just-"

"Who's the new girl?" A voice said, coming from the all too-showy Blair. Today, she was sporting just a bikini top and black, spandex short shorts. She looked over Leiko, and smiled. Leiko looked at Maka, somewhat appalled.

"Yeah, that's a normal thing around here. You'll get used to it quickly. When she's a cat, Blair doesn't take up much room."

"A cat?" Leiko asked. Soul rocketed into the apartment, heading straight for the fridge.

"Yup," he said, cramming his sweatshirt with food. "Sexy kitty here won't leave us the hell alone."

"Right," Leiko said, looking around the apartment. "Ya know, Maka, I could take the couch. I don't wanna be a nuisance or anything."

"Don't be silly, Leiko, Soul is more than happy to sleep on the couch. He's practically lived there sometimes," Maka said, glaring at her weapon, who was stuffing her face. He tried to make an argument about how strict she was about rules, but it just came out as muffled noises from a mouth full of food. Maka rolled her eyes, and put her book bag in her room.

Leiko watched how Maka and Soul got along, and was amazed at how their soul wavelengths could stand each other's. Like Maka, she could use Soul Perception, meaning she can see the souls of living people. She watched as Maka and Soul's own souls worked together, but also kinda repelled a bit. It was weird to her, but Leiko chuckled, knowing the age old saying about opposites.

Maka gave Leiko the grand tour of their apartment as Soul stuffed his face with old take out food he refused to part with from when he bought it.

"C'mon, Soul. I'm making dinner in fifteen minutes," Maka said.

"I can make dinner," Leiko said, smiling innocently while hiding her shark like teeth. "It's the least I can do, since you let me kinda move in," Leiko said, embarrassed that making dinner was the best thing she could come up with. "I know a bunch of _really_ yummy recipes!"

"As long as it's better than Maka's cooking, you got the job," Soul said, earning a Maka Chop from his meister. Leiko chuckled, and started to grab ingredients from the fridge.

As Leiko was cooking, Soul kept trying to figure out what was so weird about her, never mind how much she looked like him. He would've looked at her soul, but he couldn't do that. He scooted over to the opposite side of the couch, where Maka was studying.

"Hey, read her soul for me," he whispered. Maka looked at him, rolled her eyes, and went back to reading her notes. "I'm serious! Something is weird about her."

"Calm down, Soul. I already looked when she was passed out. There's nothing suspicious about her. If she were a witch, she'd have some sort of animal on her, right?" Maka said in her normal voice, knowing Leiko couldn't hear them. She had borrowed Soul's iPod to listen to music while she cooked, as she did at her own home.

"I guess, but I won't trust her until I see a scythe come out of her arm," he said, glaring at their new cook.

"And what if she's a meister?" Maka replied, still reading her school work. Soul tried to outsmart her, but just huffed, and pouted. "Which she is."

"Whatever, Maka. I'll investigate myself," Soul said.

He walked up to Leiko, and watched her cook. She seemed normal from head to toe. She swayed her hips to the beat of whatever song she was listening to, just like Maka did when she cooked and listened to the radio. By this point, she had the main dish done and covered, ready for the oven. She was mincing green onions, and the smell had Soul drooling. Leiko almost punched him when she felt a drop of it run down her arm, giving her shivers.

"That's so gross!" Leiko yelled, grabbing a towel. Maka was laughing, watching Soul try to explain why he was drooling so much. Leiko shivered after wiping it off, topped the chicken dish with the green onions, and popped it into the oven. She gave Soul his iPod back, and plopped down on the couch. "Well, dinner's almost ready. Give it about a half hour."

"It smells amazing," Maka said, melting as the smell of cooking chicken filled the apartment. "What did you make?"

"You'll see soon enough," Leiko said, smiling. The two girls jumped a mile when they heard someone banging on the door, and that someone proclaiming himself as the life of the DWMA.

"What does BlackStar want?" Maka said, opening the door. He invited himself in, stopping at the kitchen.

"What smells so good," he asked. Tsubaki followed in as her shy self.

"You really shouldn't just barge into people's homes, BlackStar," she told him.

"It's okay," Maka said. "What're you guys looking for?"

"That big test is coming up again," Tsubaki said, pulling BlackStar away from the oven. "I recommended that BlackStar ask you to tutor him, Maka."

"Of course I can," Maka said happily. "Maybe Soul will join us too, not wanting to get strip searched again." She glared at her weapon, watching the oven as BlackStar did. BlackStar stood up, and crossed his arms.

"Fine," he said. "After dinner."

"Here?" Maka asked. "I don't think-"

"There's extra chicken in the fridge, Maka," Leiko said, smiling putting Soul's earbuds of his iPod back into her ears. "I can make a second batch!"

* * *

As Leiko pulled two dishes out of the oven, everyone in the apartment flocked to her cooking. Maka and Tsubaki marveled at the elegancy of the chicken's appearance, while BlackStar and Soul drooled over the cheese oozing out. Having the table set earlier, Leiko put one large piece of chicken on everyone's plates, along with fresh salad and fruit salad already cut up and in bowls on the table. Everyone sat down, and grabbed what they wanted to eat, the girls taking more fruit and salad than the boys. After dinner was over, the boys' stomachs were distended after eating the three extra pieces Leiko had made for leftovers for a rainy or lazy day.

"That was amazing, Leiko!" Tsubaki said, Leiko's face flushing. She smiled shyly, and thanked her.

"It's nothing, really. Chicken Cordon Blu is really easy to make," the chef replied. putting dishes in the sink.

"Chicken Quarter what?" Soul asked, rolling onto his stomach. Leiko giggled, and started to wash plates.

"It's ham and cheese wrapped up in a chicken breast, topped with green onions and butter, cooked for about a half hour," she replied. BlackStar started drooling again at just the description of the food.

"Okay, now it's study time," Maka said, pulling out school books. "Leiko, do you wanna study?"

"Nah, I'm not even enrolled yet. Plus, I'm covered in flour and onion juice. I'm just gonna stay outta your hair, and take a shower," she replied, putting dished in the dishwasher.

"Okay," Maka said. "We're gonna have to get you enrolled tomorrow."

Leiko rolled her eyes, and went to the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Despite Maka's offer to share clothes until she could go shopping, Leiko knew she couldn't fit. So, she would just have to make do for now. The weekend was a day away, anyway. She grabbed a towel, and put a watch like thing on the counter, the only thing besides herself and a hair band she brought from home. Leiko looked around, and hid it underneath the towel she put on the counter top.

"No one can steal that," she muttered, knowing how important that device is to what she came to this place for. She already had Stein uneasy and suspicious about her. She couldn't have anyone else feel the same way until the very end.

Leiko told herself to relax, or Maka could pick up on her stress. Hell, Soul could even pick it up, knowing they were almost carbon copies of each other. She doesn't hate looking like she does, but being less albino would've been a _huge_ help. She sighed, and accepted that fate wanted to screw with her.

The hot water spraying onto Leiko's back relaxed her. By this point, she was just putting off going outside the bathroom. Her hair and body were already clean, and she had no real explanation for standing in the shower. She sighed, and turned off the water. Pushing the shower curtain away, her blood ran cold, and she screamed.

"Geez, that's impressive for someone Maka's age," Blair said, still in her human form. Soul ran in from the living room, practically busting down the _unlocked_ door. He froze as he saw Blair, almost naked as usual, and Leiko, fumbling for her towel. His nose exploded into a bloody mess, falling backwards into the hallway, followed by Blair in her cat form, scared enough to run behind the couch. Leiko ran out of the bathroom in her towel, raging.

"Give that cat a god damned bell!" Leiko screamed. The study group, now featuring Kidd and his weapons, just stared at her. She looked down, realized she was only in her towel, and screamed, running into the bathroom and slamming the door.

"Well, that was an eventful thirty-seconds," Kidd said, surprised.

"No wonder she's heavier than Maka," Soul said, chuckling. "It's all in her boobs!" This earned him another Maka Chop.

Leiko came back about two minutes later, fully dressed, and the watch thing latched onto her wrist. Kidd started to get flustered over her uneven bangs, eyes twitching.

"Oh, hold on," Leiko said. She took Soul's headband right off of his head, and used it to push her bangs back, melding them into the rest of her hair. "Now they're symmetrical!" Kidd ran to her, and hugged her leg, thanking Leiko thousands of times for "fixing" her hair. Soul got up, and tried to tear his headband off of Leiko's head from behind her. Before he could even make contact, her arm turned into a double edged scythe, creeping close around Soul's body.

"Damn," he said, surprised.

"You want Kidd to freak out again? You look better without it at home, anyway," Leiko said. She pulled her weapon back, turning it into a regular arm again. Everyone in the room was in shock.

"But, you have a meister's soul," Maka said in disbelief. "How could you-"

"My parents are combination parents," Leiko answered, sitting next to Maka on the couch. "My mom is a meister _and_ a weapon, and my dad is a weapon, hence the double edge. Bad ass, right?" The crowd laughed, then quickly went back to studying, saving the questions for school tomorrow.

Leiko looked out the window, ignoring the information that spewed from Maka's brain, and almost exploded BlackStar's. She thought about how she could finish what she came to do, not even having a lead on where to start.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After everyone left the shared apartment, the three tenants cleaned up the place. Maka worked on scattered notes and books, Leiko stuck with cleaning extra dishes, and Soul swept the floor for dust and dropped food and such. Leiko was the first to finish her chores, and flopped on the couch, stretched out.

"Dinner was amazing, Leiko," Maka said. Leiko didn't respond. "Leiko?" Maka turned, and chuckled. She had fallen asleep on the couch, energy drained from her first day.

"Looks like I got my room for one more night," Soul said, throwing dirt and food from the floor into the trash. Maka rolled her eyes, and neatly put her notes and school books away. She grabbed a fleece blanket from the foot of her bed, and put it over her new roommate.

"I'm gonna get some sleep," Maka said to Soul. "Good night, Soul."

"G'night," he replied. Usually, he would just sit and watch T.V. until he got tired, but his spot was already taken. Not wanting to wake her, he sat in the kitchen, trying to find something to do. He saw his iPod sitting on the table, so he grabbed it and plugged himself into his own world of music. He smiled, seeing the songs he liked most were played that day by Leiko. "She has good taste."

Soul slid the music player into his back pocket, and straightened out a few things around the apartment, like a bunched up curtain of finding a cracker he missed. Eventually, he gave up trying to be entertained, and headed to his room.

"Night," he said, patting Leiko's foot as he walked by the couch. After he closed his bedroom door, Leiko started to stir in her sleep.

* * *

_The black void opened to a small room, lined with elegant red and black wallpaper. Leiko stood in the middle of the room, looking more than beautiful. Her snow white hair was pulled into a high pony tail, bangs hanging down freely. Instead of her usual attire, she wore a black, strapless, silk-like high-low hemmed dress. She wore black lace fingerless gloves, going halfway up her forearms. Her elegance was complete with black high heels, about two inches high._

_She sat in the middle of the room on a black stool, looking for a way out. There was a door on her right, but somehow she knew it was locked. In front of her was a beautiful golden harp. She reached to play it, but quickly backed down. In a blacked out corner behind her stood a small red demon with horns and long nails in some quacky 80's dress suit. Leiko turned to him, and laughed, flashing a toothy grin._

_"Aren't you scared people will figure out why you're here," he asked, stepping closer. Leiko looked away from him._

_"More like who I am," she replied. The little demon walked in front of her, forcing Leiko to make eye contact. He looked at her, and then at the harp._

_"Pssh, scared of your own identity. Play me a song, will you?" Leiko laughed, and crossed her legs._

_"Yeah, right," she replied. He became a bit flustered at her._

_"You know all that fear just melt away," he said, picking something out of his nails. "If you just let me take the lead."_

_"No thanks," she said, getting up for the door. He ran to block the door, and looked up at her._

_"What would your family think? You, of all people, fearing a one in a million chance," he said, enticing her to sit back down. Leiko started to feel trapped. Her mind began to panic, but she kept herself cool on the outside. She kicked the demon away from the door, and put a hand on the knob._

_"Get outta my way," she said. "You're giving me one hell of a head ache." When she opened the door, it was only the wall behind it. She looked back at the demon, who was twirling a key in between his boney fingers._

_"The real hell is in your head, you know. Only _I _control this room, missy," he said, chuckling._

* * *

Leiko's eyes snapped open, looking straight up. She felt herself in a cold sweat, hands buried in her hair. She sat up, looking around the apartment. Her hands fell to her lap. She started to freak out when she didn't see her bangs fall, but remembered she still had Soul's headband on. She took it off, feeling her bangs fall, chuckling.

"He's gonna have this for ever," she muttered. Leiko looked at the digital clock on the side table, and it read 2:35 AM. She sighed, knowing only she would be awake. After her eyes adjusted, she saw Kitty Blair, asleep on the floor by the window. She walked up to her, and picked the cat up, still holding the borrowed headband.

"You may be a pain," she said, putting her on a couch pillow. "But you don't deserve to sleep on the floor." She heard Blair purr in her sleep when she touched the pillow.

Leiko sat against the wall of the hallway connecting to Maka and Soul's rooms, as well as the bathroom. She ran her fingers through her hair, and thought about her plan. Leiko covered her face with her hands, and sighed.

"_A sound soul dwells within a sound mind, and a sound body_, right?" Leiko asked an imaginary listener. "Why is mine so sound if my head is so frazzled, huh?"

"Maybe it's cuz you're over thinking," a deep voice said from beside Leiko. She looked over through her bangs, and saw Soul.

"Morning, Soul. Did I wake you?" Leiko asked, nervous.

"Nah, I was awake anyway. Couldn't really fall asleep," he said, throwing his arms behind his head and closing his eyes. "It's not a cool night."

"Right," Leiko replied, smiling. She looked at her hands, and saw the headband. "Oh, here's your headband back."

"Hm? Thanks," Soul said, opening one eye. He yawned, and took it back, throwing it into his messy room. Leiko chuckled, flashing her teeth again, but quickly closing her mouth. "What's with your no big smiles rule?"

"I don't like showing off my teeth too much, makes me feel like a shark," she said, looking down. Of the few truthful things she told anyone here, this was one of them.

"And what's so bad about that?' Soul asked, flashing his own. Leiko chuckled, and looked at the far window.

"Nothing, I guess," she replied, making Soul chuckle. "You should go back to sleep, you have school tomorrow."

"So do you," he argued, but still staying quiet enough to not wake the sleeping bear that is Maka Albarn.

"I slept all day, probably longer," Leiko said. She flicked Soul's ear, and chuckled.

"What was that for?" Soul asked in mid-yawn.

"For helping me," Leiko replied. Soul smirked, and looked at the clock in the kitchen. "Thanks."

"Don't worry about it," he said. Leiko looked at him, and her eyes went straight for the scar across his chest and side. Her eyes traced every stitch, like she had seen it before. "You wanna know what happened, huh?" Leiko shrugged, already knowing.

"Look's like a sword got ya good," she said, looking at him. "Uncle Stein fix you up?"

"_Uncle_ Stein?" Soul asked, confused. Leiko's mind began to panic, and tried to save her ass form her stupid stumble.

"Sorry, Professor Stein. I have an uncle named Frank, so the name kinda sticks with me," she said, her mind breathing a sigh of relief. Soul nodded, looking like he took the bait. "Well, I'm gonna try to get back to sleep. Enrollment Day is tomorrow.

"Good luck," Soul answered, standing up and walking to his room. "That couch is like sleeping on a cardboard box." Leiko chuckled, and walked back to the couch, pulling the blanket up. She snuggled into a comfortable position, and closed her eyes, bangs falling to the side.

"You always know how to cheer me up," she muttered, falling asleep right after.

On the other hand, Soul just found himself more awake after talking with Leiko. For some reason, he felt connected to her, different from the one with Maka. He couldn't place why, or how, but he still felt it. He shrugged it off, and tried to go back to sleep. He looked at his clock, groaning.

"What's another three and a half hours of sleep anyway?" Soul said, pushing his pillow over his face.

* * *

Maka, as always, was the first one awake at six in the morning. Since school started at seven, Maka had an hour to get ready. Knowing Soul, he probably was going to have less than twenty minutes. Leiko woke up around six-ten, groggy as ever.

Her hair was sticking up at odds and ends, looking identical to an octopus's legs. She walked to the kitchen and grabbed a few strawberries, de-headed them, and ate them for breakfast in silence as Maka was in the shower, and Soul was asleep.

Maka came out of the bathroom, dry and dressed for the day five minutes later. When she saw Leiko, she jumped.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know," Leiko grumbled. "I'm not a morning person."

"I can tell," Maka said, sitting on the couch next to her book bag. "We should get Soul up in ten minutes or so, so he has a chance to get ready for school."

"Can I borrow your brush? My head feels like a spiny cactus," Leiko said, trying to push her hair back into place. Maka chuckled, and nodded.

"It's on my dresser, next to the radio." Leiko thanked her, and went to go brush her hair. Soul stumbled out of his room, still in only his boxers, and flopped over the arm of the couch, crashing into a reading Maka.

"Dammit, Soul!" Maka yelled, her face flushed, pushing him off the couch. "Put some pants on, geez."

"Calm down," he said, sitting up on the floor. "You know you love the Eater Abs," he said, gesturing to his six-pack. Of course, this earned him a Maka Chop with a book, right on his head.

"Get ready for school, will ya?" Maka asked, returning to her book. Soul grumbled, and went go get dressed. "Ugh, men."

* * *

**Author's Note: So. Much. Dialogue. O_O Meh, it was needed for this chapter XD Bonding, ya know :3 It was also a longer chapter o.o Oh well! Remember: Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**~ Nicole**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The three were all dressed and ready for school, leaving twenty minutes for the ride. Soul and Maka insisted they walked with Leiko, realizing a motorcycle can only carry two people. Leiko told them to go on ahead, saying she needed some time to calm herself for her first day. Soul and Maka took the bait, and went on ahead to school. Leiko waited until they were out of sight to start walking. Her eyes were glued to her feet, and her right hand to her left wrist, concealing the watch thing.

Leiko thought about what happened the night before, especially _after_ her nightmare. It was a huge risk to bond with Soul like that, knowing what it could change. She thought about what he said, about her over thinking.

"Maybe he's right," she muttered, smirking moments after. "He always is." Having her confidence restored, she picked up the pace towards the DWMA. Knowing she would be enrolled that day was eating at her soul, regretting not running away. Her plan had accounted for this, finding the one responsible _without_ their help. However, fate wanted it differently. The stupid thing literally brought her to the DWMA, and pushed her into their laps. She shrugged it off, knowing how to conceal herself as a regular student who was uncannily identical to Maka's partner. All she had to do now was talk to Lord Death, get herself enrolled, and maybe she could pull this off.

* * *

"Class, we will be having a new student join today," Stein said to his students, sitting backwards in his stitched up desk chair as always. "Don't make a big deal out of it, kay? Alright, back to notes."

"Professor Stein," a rather bald student said, that being Ox Ford. "Why would we make a big deal? Are they famous?"

"Maybe they're an ex witch!" Another student piped up, causing a huge debate.

Stein was about to break it up when the classroom door opened rather quickly, banging against the adjacent wall. A student-sized hooded figure stood in the doorway, looking down.

"Leiko," Stein said happily and welcoming. "Take an empty seat near someone you know, Maka perhaps."

Leiko did just that, and walked towards her roommate, imitating the class's silence. She sat down in the empty seat between Maka and Tsubaki, Soul and BlackStar sitting in front of them, filling the last empty seat in that row. Stein went back to the board, writing who knows what. Leiko kept her hood on, and glued her eyes to the desk. Stein stopped writing on the board, and plopped down in his chair.

"I'd like to know where this girl comes from, Professor," Ox said, pushing up his glasses.

"Fine, fine, fine. Let's play a game called 'Invading Privacy,' shall we?" Stein said, making the class chuckle. "Leiko, please stand up and tell the class about yourself."

"No," Leiko answered sternly. The class looked dumbfounded at the fact that she would try to say no to a teacher. "All they'll do is stare, Professor."

"I'm sure you're not too different," said another elite student, Harvar D. Éclair, who also was Ox's weapon.

"Fine," Leiko said. She sighed, and stood up. Leiko slowly took her hood off, her snow white hair falling down her back. Her deep red eyes looked at Ox and his weapon, who were amazed at her likeness. She pretended to curtsey, and bow her head like a lady. "Leiko Evans, at your service."

The class erupted into questions about if she and Soul were related, or if she came from another dimension where she _was_ Soul. The original six laughed at her performance, giving Leiko a smile. Remembering what her counterpart told her the night before, her smile erupted into that shark-toothy grin again.

"She even has the same teeth!"

"Are we being tricked or something?"

"Stein, did you experiment on a student again?"

Remarks and questions about Leiko exploded from her strange classmates. She sat back down, where she was easily comparable to Maka's weapon. This just caused more questions, which she ignored. Stein slapped a ruler down on his desk, ending the barrage of curiosity.

"That's enough," he said sternly. "Now, back to notes." Stein started to teach the class about soul resonating. He explained the basics of it, and how it can be used, like a normal teacher would. He stopped explaining, and turned to the class. "Who wants to try an experiment?"

The whole class dove behind their desks, knowing how Stein _loved_ experiments, almost dissecting an endangered animal once. He explained it would't be too hard, and started picking students out of the bunch.

"Hmmm, BlackStar and Tsubaki," he said, motioning them to come to the front of the class. They did, BlackStar as proud as he's ever been.

"Good choice in assassins, Stein," he said boldly, embarrassing his weapon. "You picked the best one in history!"

"Right," Stein said. "Now, try to resonate soul wavelengths with Tsubaki in her human form." The two students nodded, and grabbed each others' hands, eyes closed.

Before the class's eyes, BlackStar and Tsubaki's soul wavelengths linked. Leiko could see how their souls worked, Tsubaki's passive and caring nature being able to put up with her meister's obsessive proudness and boldness. It was weird to her, seeing how they connected.

Pair by pair, Stein called up meisters and their weapons to resonate souls. Eventually, the only person left who didn't participate was Leiko, lacking a weapon to resonate with.

"See as Leiko doesn't have a weapon," Stein started, until BlackStar lit up.

"She doesn't need one!" Leiko's face flushed as the whole class started to talk about her again. BlackStar seemed proud enough to know about it, nonetheless boast about knowing. "As smart and as awesome as I am, I bet I could resonate with her weapon side!"

"Yeah, right," Leiko scoffed, looking at Stein. "I'm both a meister and a weapon, just in case you couldn't sense it already Professor. I'd be happy to prove why even the great BlackStar couldn't match wavelengths with me."

"Go right ahead, I want to see this." Stein said, giving the two students the floor. BlackStar jumped out of his seat, yelling at Leiko to move her butt faster. When she got down to the floor, he grabbed her hands, more than ready. They nodded, moods changing from excited to serious in a snap.

"Soul Resonance!" The meisters said in unison, their wavelengths trying to match. Before anything big could happen, BlackStar was shot into the wall by Leiko's wavelengths, much too powerful for his own soul.

"And that's why I don't have a partner, boys and girls," Leiko muttered, just loud enough for Stein to hear. The class was amazed at what just happened, knowing how strong BlackStar was, especially being able to control his wavelength without turning into some form of weapon, or using one for that matter.

"To think someone can over power someone BlackStar with their soul wavelength," Maka said, turning to Leiko. "That was so cool!"

"Trust me, it gets annoying," she replied, face flushing red. "Because of my incomparability, I have no partner."

"In retrospect, Leiko doesn't really need one," Stein said, using her as an example for the lesson. "A child of a meister and a weapon can take after only one parent, usually. In Leiko's case, she has a gene that gives her both the abilities of a strong meister, and a weapon of that same caliber. Now, if you could demonstrate your weapon, Leiko."

Leiko nodded, and turned herself into a scythe, only to be caught by Stein. Before he could make a point, Leiko's weapon form nailed him to the ground, being much to heavy for him to carry, due to mismatched soul wavelengths.

"Even Professor Stein can't match wavelengths with her," Tsubaki said to Maka. "It's amazing, really, how different of a soul she has." Maka could feel how different Leiko's soul was from everyone else's, even Stein's. However, she felt the urge to walk up to the scythe and try to match wavelengths with her. She shrugged off the feeling, trying to refocus. She watched as Leiko morphed back into her human form, and Stein get his bearings back.

"My mom isn't just a meister, Professor," Leiko said, arms crossed. "She has the weapon gene in her too, giving my blade the double edge. It's saved my ass a few times."

"You are truly one unique soul, Miss Evans," Stein said as Leiko walked back to her seat, the class watching her.

No one dared to ask if they could try to match wavelengths with her. After seeing Stein not being able to match with her, they feared they would end up worse than BlackStar, who was being dragged back to his seat by Soul, leaving a blood trail from his head.

* * *

**Author's Note: More dialogue! XD It's needed l3 and I know, this chapter is a bit shorter than previous ones, but it leads up to a very interesting story :3**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The rest of the day went on slowly for everyone. In every class, they got some kind of lecture about testing coming up. Leiko was excused from testing, due to her being so new. She'd have the day off from school, which she liked the sound of.

While in the hallway, she looked at the mission board. She read the names of people who were currently working, and of ones who failed and completed their missions. Before leaving, she read one last mission, one about killing a witch. Reading the name of the witch tore through Leiko's body like a cast iron sword, dipped in vinegar, salt and fire. The color from her face drained, and her blood ran cold, which a passing Death the Kidd noticed.

"Leiko?" Kidd asked, standing next to the almost paralyzed girl, followed by Liz and Patty. "Are you alright?" A poke in the head from Patty broke her out of her terrified gaze.

"What? What happened," she asked, looking around.

"You were staring at one of the missions, looking terrified at that," he said, pulling the card off the wall, reading the name of the enemy. "The Witch Cassandra of Troy?"

"Yeah," Leiko said, shivers going down her spine. "Um, I gotta go," she said, before speeding off to another part of the school. Kidd read over the mission, sensing something was off between the two.

"You feel the weirdness too, Kidd?" Liz said to her meister. Kidd nodded, agreeing with her.

"Obviously she has some kind of experience with this witch. No one would get that scared of any name," he said. Kidd looked back up at the board, and saw a Kishin egg mission, based in Turkey. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. "Girls, I say we start a group mission."

* * *

"A what now?" Maka asked Kidd, confused on what he was asking. The original seven and Leiko were sitting outside the front entrance of the DWMA, talking over new missions to take.

"A group mission. While looking at the mission board, I found a particularly important one that no one has even attempted yet. It's about that serial killer in Ankara, Turkey," Kidd explained.

"Why do you think we all should go," Soul asked.

"Obviously Kidd needs the backup that is the greatest of all assassins!" BlackStar said.

"Remember, you were beaten into a wall earlier by the new kid," Soul said, smirking as BlackStar's ego suffered a huge blow as well as making Leiko blush again.

"It's nothing special," she muttered, hiding behind her bangs.

"I did some research, and found _very_ interesting results on this guy," Kidd said, looking at his group of friends. "His name, Özgür Dengiz, is a mouthful in the first place. From what the DWMA knows, he's killed two men, probably a third, and ate one of his victims." Tsubaki, Liz, and Maka's stomachs turned. They didn't want to hear about cannibalism right after lunch.

"Disgusting, I know," he continued. "Eating human souls _and _a body, yuck. He's been laying low lately, probably from the lack of attention. I say we all go for this one, considering a witch is known to lurk around that area as well."

"Sounds good to me," Soul said, resting his hands behind his head. "I've been wanting to get outta Death City for a while now. It gets boring around here quick."

"If there's a witch around, it'll be better for all of us to go," Tsubaki said. "Bigger numbers means better odds, right?"

"Right," Maka said, ready to go. "I need a refreshing fight. I think we're all opt to going, Leiko?" She turned to the albino girl, leaning against the wall next to herself.

"I think I need some training, anyway. My blade's been getting rusty from a lack of winning," Leiko said, smirking as she earned her namesake.

* * *

They city of Ankara, Turkey was definitely a modernized one. It was odd for a potential Kishin to hang out in a place like the capital of a country. It was one of the biggest cities in Turkey, second to Istanbul. With almost five million people in total living there, the group would need to take huge precautions on _not_ wrecking anything, Shinigami forbid their old habits of wrecking towns was to come back. The eight of them were walking down a system of alleyways, laying low in the night. Leiko was the only one without a weapon to hold, leaving her to be the fourth meister for the night.

"How mad is this guy?" Maka asked Kidd. "If you're gonna eat the human soul, the least you could do is leave the body for a burial, right?"

"From my research, he used a meat cleaver to skin his last victim, the one he cannibalized. He threw the body in the trunk of his car, snacked on his skin on the way to the dump, literally _dumped_ the body there, and put the sack of flesh and skin in the refrigerator," he replied. In their weapon forms, everyone could hear Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty gagging.

"C'mon girls," Soul said in his scythe form. "At least he didn't let it rot."

"Shut up, Soul!" Maka said, thoroughly grossed out. "You're disgusting."

They ran through the alley system for hours, without finding any leads. None of the meisters could feel a Kishin soul nearby, like he had just disappeared. They searched as far as they could together as a group, which left them lost in a bustling city in the middle of the night.

"This is ridiculous," BlackStar said, stopping the group. "Maybe something else killed him."

"I'm not sensing anything, Kidd," Maka said, agreeing with BlackStar. "Are you sure we're in the right place?" Kidd was about to argue that he was right, until Leiko picked something up.

"I can feel something," she said. "Like a distant Kishin soul."

She started walking in the direct opposite way they were running, and took a turn towards the city border. The group followed her, asking what she was doing. Leiko ignored them, and looked into the woods in front of her. She gave the group a finger to the lips, telling them to be dead quiet. She took one small step into the wooded area, and stopped.

The world around them was as silent as death itself. A twig snap broke the quietness, and Leiko bursted into the woods.

"Leiko!" The meisters yelled, running in after her. They found Leiko standing before a marsh, one arm turned into her scythe. She turned around, scratching the back of her head, embarrassed at her quick flinch after a deer falling into the swamp.

"Looks like my nerves are just on their ends, huh?" Leiko asked. She looked at her fellow hunters, and tilted her head at their terrified faces. "What's so scary?" Kidd slowly lifted a finger, pointing above Leiko's head. Leiko sighed, realizing what he meant. "He's right behind me, isn't he?"

Leiko turned, and looked to where Kidd pointed. Her face morphed into the same terrified look her friends wore. The soul they had missed was standing right behind her. It looked as if it came right out of your nightmares, not even resembling a human anymore. His body was just disgustingly different from a human's, obviously touched by a witch. It must've been at least eight feet tall, towering over his prey. Drool dripped out of his terribly misshaped mouth, dropping right into Leiko's hair.

Dengiz pulled his hand out from the shadows, revealing five cleaver blades replacing his fingers. He pulled back his hand, and just before he struck, Leiko jumped out of his way. She quickly turned her arm back into a scythe, turning to her fellow meisters.

"Ready to take a soul or two?" Leiko asked, smirking. Kidd and Maka smiled, and nodded. The three of them sprung into action, trapping the beast in a square. They thought they had him cornered, and were about to attack. The monstrous nightmare let out a demented laugh, looking at every one of them.

"You think I stopped eating, don't you," the thing asked in a demonic growl. He looked right at Leiko with bloodlust in his eyes. "I'm _drawn_ to eating the flesh of my victims. Cassandra told me you'd be here, and she earned me my madness and my dinner!"

Dengiz rocketed at Leiko, cleaver fingers poised to attack. Her scythe arm clashed with his weaponized hand, pushing her back twenty feet. She amazingly stayed on her feet, pushing the monster back with all her might. The scraping of his blades against hers mimicked nails on a chalkboard.

As she fought back, that name reeked throughout Leiko's head, triggering fear with each echo into every nerve. She realized Kidd picked this mission for all of them because Cassandra of Troy lived in the same area. She knew she felt Kidd's curiosity into her fear, and being her friend he wants her to face it. But facing _this_ witch? Leiko didn't know if she could handle it.

"She promised me the kill," it growled into Leiko's ear. "She promised me the power of the Kishin!"

The four meisters slashed and shot at the monster, slowly running it down.

"Why won't this thing _die_?" Soul yelled from his weapon form void, reflecting onto his blade. The bloodthirsty monster saw the pair, and grinned an evilly disgusting grin.

When her back was turned, the creature from Hell grabbed Maka, using it's human-ish hand. She slashed at it's wrist and fingers, causing blood to gush from his hand. Dengiz clearly didn't care, and held her over his open mouth.

"Never again!" Leiko screamed at the top of her lungs.

She lunged at Degniz, digging her scythe arm into his neck. He let out a terrible scream, one similar to a scream resonance, and threw Maka right at Kidd, taking them off their feet. Leiko positioned herself on one of his shoulders, and slashed through _half_ of his neck. Blood spewed from the wound, pouring out from his jugular, and spotting her white hair with red.

Leiko pulled her weapon out of his neck, and dug it into his spine. She swung around to his other shoulder, using her scythe as leverage until she pierced the other side of his neck. Degniz kept swinging his cleaver fingers at the girl, easily scratching her side up.

A cruel smile formed on Leiko's face, and her bloody red eyes were filled with almost the same bloodlust as the monster's was. It was different, however, and Kidd felt it as much as Maka did. As BlackStar was helping them back onto their feet, Kidd realized that her craziness wasn't that of madness, but almost like revenge.

Leiko used her double edge to slice the final blow to Degniz's neck, leaving his spine the only thing supporting his head.

"Kidd, shoot him," she yelled, jumping off of the beast as two blasts from Patty and Liz separated his head from his body. They both disintegrated into a black mist, leaving a Kishin egg behind. The four meisters walked up to the egg, and Leiko picked it up. She handed it to BlackStar, who was covered in blood and pine needles. "Take it, you two need it most."

"But you killed him," Tsubaki said. Leiko shook her head, and placed the soul into BlackStar's hand. His face was one of curiosity.

"Just take it," Leiko said, walking back into town, blood leaking down her side and staining her hair. The three other meisters, and their weapons, were as confused as BlackStar was.

"Well, that's weird," Liz said. "You'd think she would've taken it since she's a student now."

"Whatever," BlackStar said, having the soul dissipate into Tsubaki's chain. "It's ours now!"

"Did you feel the same thing I did, Maka?" Kidd asked. Maka nodded, agreeing with Kidd.

"Her soul wasn't falling into madness, but-"

"She wanted something like revenge," Soul finished, morphing back into his human form. "Wonder why."

"I wonder who Cassandra is," Maka said.

"She's the witch of Troy, which was originally near here," Kidd answered. "From now on, don't mention it in front of Leiko."

"Why not? It's not like she knows her," BlackStar said, walking back to town.

"That's the thing that I can't figure out," Kidd said. "Maybe she's why Leiko appeared on the front steps of the academy in the first place."

* * *

**Author's Note: FIght scenes DX I suck at them, hehe ^^; Anyway, this one was a bit longer than the rest, which I felt was appropriate for a chapter of this importance. You guys don't know how well this worked out, actually ^^; I found my plot, looked up some legends, and BOOM! Wrote a chapter B-) Teehee :3 Anyway, remember: Read, review, and enjoy!**

**~ Nicole**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The days following Leiko's crazy Kishin kill were normal to the students, but extremely stressful on Leiko. Ever since she beheaded Dugniz, the Black Room nightmare was reoccurring every night. She was on edge, having that be her first successful mission _ever_. Where she came from, she felt like the laughing stock of her family of great fighters, unable to kill something as evil as that because of her morality thinking.

Leiko knew killing evil things like that was the right thing to do, but she never felt it was right to kill anything. More than enough she wished her parents' genes counteracted, making her a simple human, not a double edged dual fighter. Her nights were full of fear. She was afraid of the witch coming after her, afraid of the nightmare coming back, afraid of sleep. The thing that scared her most was the stirring of her madness whenever she felt scared. The little demon's words echoed in her head, trying to persuade her to let the madness take over her body. This became a serious problem the night of a huge block party, hosted by the DWMA in the streets of Death City.

"What's this party even for?" Soul asked, flippng through TV channels.

"I think it's to celebrate the highest testing scores the DWMA's had in years," Maka replied behind a closed bathroom door. Leiko was standing against the wall, zoned out and staring at a bird on a electrical wire. "No one failed this year!"

"I guess that tutoring paid off," Soul chuckled, turning the TV off. "But do we _need_ to go? I'm around school all day, I'd rather sleep."

"Of course you would," Maka argued back. "It's all you do!"

"Hey, I eat too ya know," he said, walking into his room. "Why do we need to dress up?"

"It may be a block party, but we're representing the academy. We need to look good," Maka said. She walked out of the bathroom, party ready.

Her hair was down and straightened, where it was a bit shorter than Leiko's hair. She wore an almost skin tight dress that reached halfway down her thighs, which was a dark green in color, making her emerald eyes pop. Her black flats matched perfectly with the belt around her waist, and the black thin chain that held a small emerald heart. She had minimal makeup on, which was mascara, blush, and a tiny bit of eye liner. Maka walked to Leiko, asking how she looked. As Leiko turned, she was stunned.

"Damn," Leiko said. She took Maka's hands, smiling. "You look beautiful, Maka."

"Really?" Maka asked, face flushing. Leiko nodded, and gave a devious smile.

"Maybe you'll have a few boys trailing you tonight," she said. Maka blushed more, and playfully punched her shoulder.

"That's not too nice, Maka, beating on the new girl," Soul said, walking out of his bedroom in a red dress shirt, tucked neatly into black Khaki slacks. He finished it off with black dress shoes and a black belt, usually what any guy would wear. Maka turned, and her face flushed red as Soul's did. Leiko chuckled, and walked into Maka's room to get ready.

"Damn, Maka," Soul said, walking to his meister. "Who knew you could clean up good?"

"Well," she said, shyly correcting his grammar. "I cleaned up _well_; and thank you, Soul. You look the best you've been since that founding party that Medusa crashed."

"Um, thanks?" Soul asked. Maka chuckled, and walked to the kitchen table, looking at the clock.

"Sure I have to wear a dress?" Leiko shouted from Maka's room.

"Remember that lecture two minutes ago?" Maka said, rolling her eyes.

"Right," Leiko said. A huge thump was heard from Maka's room, followed by a cursing roommate. "Damn dresser!"

Leiko walked out of Maka's room, looking stunning. During her down time, she and the girls went shopping for dresses and new clothes. In this time, Leiko found her perfect dress for the party, even though she hated them.

She wore a strapless dark crimson pencil dress, outlining all her curves, ending about an inch longer than her regular shorts did. The top and bottom hems were lined with black lace, giving a little spark to her elegancy. She tied her hair up into a high ponytail, letting her bangs hang freely and two longer stands of hair fall down to frame her face. She wore one inch black heels with straps that went a bit above her ankles. Her make up was as simple as Maka's, but her red orbs of eyes looked brighter than ever before.

Before Soul or Maka could even think about compliments for her, BlackStar busted through the door, wearing practically the same thing as Soul, except wearing a navy blue shirt. Tsubaki followed with a slimming black low-high hemmed dress, meant to hide obvious curves.

"The party god is here!" BlackStar shouted like he was ready to ride a chandelier.

"Calm down, BlackStar," Tsubaki said quietly. "The party hasn't even started yet."

"The party's always here when I'm around!" BlackStar retaliated. The girls sighed, while Soul cheered them on. The two boys ran out of the apartment, party ready.

The party started on the steps of the DWMA, and Kidd, along with his weapons and Lord Death, stood to make speeches. As they started, Leiko zoned out again. She looked up at her apartment, regretting her decision to leave her watch device hidden in Maka's room in between the mattress and the bed frame. She felt all of her peers' soul wavelengths, and how calm they were. She found it unnerving.

_How could they be calm when Cassandra is still alive?_ Leiko thought to herself. Tsubaki saw Leiko's cautious face, and tapped her shoulder.

"Are you alright, Leiko?" Tsubaki said, concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no, it's all okay," Leiko lied with a fake smile. "I'm just worried about these heels, hehe."

_That fear is coming back_, a little demon voice said in her head. Leiko's heart almost stopped. She shook her head, trying to ignore it. She was relieved when he didn't come back. By the time her eyes wandered to Lord Death and Kidd, they had finished their speeches, and the party started.

Street venders were offering free food, all sorts. There was a different genre of music for every street, stretching for at least six blocks. As the huge crowd disbanded from street to street, Leiko stuck by Maka and Soul. Eventually, the group dissolved into the group of five girls, and another of the three boys. The girls were all complimenting each other, more towards Leiko. Liz and Patty were more embarrassed by their matching yellow jumpsuits and high buns that Kidd made them wear. They boys were just standing at the opposite side of the street awkwardly, watching their partners gossip.

"I don' get how girls can complement each other for twenty minutes," BlackStar said. Kidd and Soul shrugged, agreeing. "I mean, all guys say is something about a matching tie being a win for the night."

"I guess dresses mean more than ties do," Kidd said. "I'll tell you, the girls do clean up effectively."

"And that means," BlackStar said, trailing off like he was expecting an explanation.

"It means Kidd thinks the girls look hot, dumb-ass," Soul answered, taking a sip of punch from his cup. Kidd smacked Soul upside his head, and BlackStar started to laugh like his usual obnoxious self. "What the hell, Kidd?!" Across the way, the five girls watched a small fight break out.

"What could they be fighting about so early on?" Maka asked, embarrassed.

"Maybe Soul insulted Kidd's symmetry," Patty said. The girls looked at each other, then back at the dustball that was Soul and Kidd's fight, then back at each other again, nodding.

"Definitely a symmetry problem," Maka said, leading the group to another street. "They can fix it themselves, we should enjoy the party!" The group of girls stopped at a fruit kart, each of them getting a bowl of chocolate covered strawberries with vanilla ice cream.

"This is my favorite!" Leiko and Maka said in unison. They both smiled, Leiko flashing her sharky teeth.

"Great minds think alike, I see," Maka said, taking a small spoon of the ice cream. Leiko went straight for the strawberries, devouring them like a lady.

They walked a bit, exploring the different games and attractions the academy had put out for the party. After a bit of walking, the girls sat on one of the benches lining the road, feet aching.

"I really should've thought out the idea of these heels on roads more," Leiko said, rubbing her sore bare feet. She put her heels in front of her, planning to put them back on in a few minutes. Before she could, an older woman, seemingly coming out of nowhere, walked in front of the bench, and tripped over her shoes. She was a smaller woman, only about five feet tall wearing a shall over her head, hiding her face.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," Leiko said, helping the woman up. "I didn't see you walking near us, ma'am. Are you hurt or anything?" The woman looked at Leiko from under her hood. She exposed her gleaming blue eyes and red curly hair, fitting her beautiful stature with fair, smooth skin. Leiko froze as she helped the woman up, fear ripping through her body.

"Don't fret, sweetheart. Call me Cassandra," the woman said, smirking at her, and lancing at the girls on the bench. "You girls look beautiful this evening. I wouldn't be surprised if you parents looked just as nice."

With that last complement, the woman walked away from the girls, and into the crowd. Leiko was frozen on her feet, and fell over into the blocked off street, holding her head. She felt the demon pricking at her brain, trying to gain access to her inner madness that she inherited.

"Leiko!" They yelled, running to her side. Maka kneeled next to her, and put a hand on her shoulder, trying to help her up. Leiko pushed them away, closing her eyes tight.

"Just a migraine," she muttered through clenched teeth. As if on cue, the three boys ran to the scene, crowding Leiko.

"How'd you know-"

"I felt something was wrong," Soul said, cutting Maka off and he kneeled next to Maka. "What happened?"

"An old woman tripped on Leiko's shoes, and fell," Tsubaki started. "She went to go help the woman up, and as she left, Leiko just froze and fell over, holding her head."

"I'll go get Nygus," Kidd said, running with BlackStar back to the front of the academy.

"I'm fine, really," Leiko chocked out along with a fake chuckle, still clutching her head. She opened one eye slightly, and Maka noticed a line of gray circling her crimson eyes. This eerily reminded her of Crona when he was going mad. She shook it off as Leiko slowly started to sit up. She and Soul spotted her, holding her shoulders. Leiko stood up, dusting herself off. "Well, _that_ was embarrassing!"

"Are you sure you should be standing after that," Liz and Tsubaki said. Leiko shrugged, and grabbed her heels, walking back onto the sidewalk. She started back for the front of the academy, followed by her concerned group of friends. She ran into BlackStar and Kidd, followed by Nygus, Stein, and Sid.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," she said to them, winking and walking right between them. Thoroughly confused, her friends followed her to the apartment. Leiko unlocked the door, using the hidden key from a flower pot outside.

"What the hell was that," Soul yelled, following her inside, who was in turn followed by Maka.

"Like I told Maka, I just had a migraine. I get them randomly from time to time, it's no big deal," Leiko lied. She plopped down on the couch, and turned on the TV. "Why are you guys so worried?"

"Look, we may not be your parents," Maka started. Leiko laughed, and crossed her legs. "But that scared the hell out of all of us."

"Look, I'm fine guys, promise," Leiko said, standing up. She was starting to get frustrated because of her dragon-like temper.

"You can tell us what happened," Soul said. "We're not out to get you, ya know."

"Really? Well, what if I'm protecting you, huh? What if someone is out for me _and_ you?" Leiko fumed. Right as she finished, her anger turned into sadness, tears welling up in her eyes. She shuffled past Maka and Soul and retreated into the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it shut.

* * *

**Author's Note: Oh my, something big! This one was longer too .3. I also put a bit more detail into this one, being a special night and all :3 So hopefully this is content with your expectations of me and my writing skills! Remember: Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**~ Nicole**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Leiko sat in the bathtub, curtain closed and hunched over herself. Her hands were cradling her face, and her eyes were shut tight. Her uneven breathing was caused by her trying to hold in tears.

_Calm down, she can't hurt you without releasing her Soul Protect_, she thought to herself. This calmed her down a bit, but her nerves were still bouncing off the walls. _You'd have backup then, right?_

Leiko tried to get ahold of herself, but he couldn't really seem to calm down. She was at a state of mind where only one person could help her, and he wasn't even aware of it. She took one deep breath in, and stood up.

Pulling away the shower curtain, she stepped out of the tub, and looked at herself in the mirror. She watched her own bloodshot eyes, looking at the pathetic wimp staring back at her. Before stepping outside, the curtains ruffled and caught her attention. She turned her head, and only saw nothing.

"I guess the madness is _really_ getting to me," she sighed. She looked back into the mirror, and her heart stopped. A dark figure stood right behind her, chest against her back. A smooth skinned, young hand rested on her shoulder, crystal blue eyes staring into Leiko's reflection.

"_You're such a sweet girl,_" the figure said. Her voice was as smooth as silk. She used her free hand to run her fingers across Leiko's chin, giving her chills down her spine. "_I've seen what you intend to do to me, but it'll only end in death of the three of you. Although, I know you won't heed my warning, it's my curse. It's too bad, really._

_"I won't have the pleasure of seeing you at their funerals like last time, now won't I? It's a real downer, Leiko. Why do you have to be so arrogant, thinking you're strong enough to destroy me? You're only a child, and only children are weak,_" she said. She wrapped her hands around Leiko's neck, chocking her. "_You're as weak as your parents were!"_

"Get away!" Leiko screamed at the top of her lungs, rocketing her elbow backwards.

The figure disappeared, launching Leiko head first into the shower wall, falling to her side. The tile smashed, and cut right through the bottom of her scalp. Blood trickled down her neck, smeared against the wall as Leiko fell, and started a small puddle as she laid in the tub. The door started moving, like someone was trying to kick it in. It stopped for a moment, until a black dress shoe broke the door right off it's hinges, and Maka and Soul ran inside to the bloody scene. Leiko's senses started to blur as she saw the two rush to her side. Soul held her up as Maka tried to clot the blood with a hand towel. Leiko painfully looked up at what her head did to the wall, eyes closing slowly.

"Shit, did I do that," she muttered out. Soul and Maka were trying to talk to her, but their voices blurred into nothing. Leiko's eyes drifted to the mirror, and saw Cassandra's gleaming eyes burying into her soul. She mustered up all her energy to point at the mirror, but she disappeared before her roommates could see anything.

"Keep your eyes open, dammit!" Soul yelled as Maka called for help, holding the towel to Leiko's head. "If it means giving in to the madness, do it! We'll pull you back!"

"An ambulance will be here in ten minutes," Maka said, running back into the bathroom.

"That's too long," Soul said. Both he and his meister had knots in their stomachs. They were bigger than when someone like BlackStar or Kidd got hurt, like they knew they'd pull through. However, they had no idea this time.

* * *

_Leiko was standing in the Black Room again, in front of the harp. The little demon was biting his fingers, drool pouring out of his mouth._

_"You were so close last time. What kept you from letting me lead?"_

_"My plan," she answered, looking at the demon. "I can't risk hurting them. If you're always in my head, why couldn't you figure it out yourself? Or are you just dense?"_

_"Your namesake is coming out again," the demon chuckled. "Play me a song, maybe that'll help." He flashed pictures of what was happening outside of Leiko's head. She closed her eyes tight, and looked away. "Or are you too scared?"_

_"What's so bad about fear?" Leiko asked. "Fear makes you stronger, it's what I've been trying to live by."_

_"True, or maybe it weakens you bit by bit. Maybe trusting fear is what's been dragging your skills into the dust. You have so much potential, your parents being-"_

_"Don't you _dare_ talk about my parents," _Leiko ordered, looking at the demon. "_They're too great to be even spoken about by the likes of you._"

Leiko glared at the demon, then at the harp. She sat down in front of it on the stool, placing a hand on the harp's knee. She sighed, and stared at the strings.

"_So, if I play, I could pull myself out?"_ Leiko asked, refusing to look at the little pest. She sighed, and placed her fingers on the strings, smiling and revealing her shark grin. "_Fine, but I lead the show._"

* * *

Leiko shot up, out of Soul and Maka's grip, looking around the room. Her head was pounding, clogged with the beautiful sounds of a harp. The gray circles appeared around her eyes again, Maka sensing her madness pouring into her soul. She grabbed Leiko's shoulders, looking in her eyes.

"Don't give in to it, Leiko," Maka said. "Pull out of it!" Leiko chuckled, and grinned deviously.

"You don't get it, do you," she asked, standing up and stepping out of the room. "I'm not as strong as you yet, Maka. I need just a little _push_, and I'll get ahold of Cassandra and _BAM!_ She's dead!" Leiko started to laugh, and walked outside the bathroom. She went into Maka's room, flipped the mattress, and grabbed the watch. Leiko kicked out her window, and jumped into the road.

Soul and Maka chased after her, but she had already made it down the street. It was obvious to anyone that she was losing control, walking barefoot on broken glass and not even flinching. BlackStar, Kidd, and their weapons were running to see what had happened in the apartment, only to be met at the top of the street by Soul and Maka.

"Is she alright?" Tsubaki and the girls asked, worried as they've ever been.

"What happened?" BlackStar and Kidd said in unison. Maka pointed to Leiko, walking right out of Death City.

"She's getting lost in the madness, saying something about some chick named Cassandra," Soul said. Kidd's eyes widened as he pulled out the mission ticket from the DWMA.

"The witch," he said. The others looked at him, confused.

"What do you mean?" Maka asked. "Why would she be taking on a witch?"

"One day at the academy, Leiko was looking at the mission board. She saw this ticket, the one about Witch Cassandra, and almost had a heart attack," Kidd explained. "I never found out why she was so scared, but she definitely wants her dead if I felt her wavelength correctly mad or not."

"We better find her before she gets herself killed," BlackStar said. The weapons morphed into their respective forms, and the group ran after Leiko. By the time they reached the edge of the city, she was out of sight.

"Dammit," Maka muttered. "I can't feel her soul nearby."

"Feel for a witch," Soul said, his reflection appearing on the scythe blade. "Maybe we can look for Cassandra and find Leiko on the way." Maka nodded, and deepened her Soul Perception. Suddenly, a wave of power hit her, followed by the appearance of a witch soul.

"Did you feel that," Kidd asked, looking at Maka. She nodded, and looked towards the forest.

"A witch just released Soul Protect, let's go," she said. The three meisters and their weapons rocketed towards the forest, following maka's lead for the witch.

* * *

"That's the last time I let madness take me over," Leiko muttered. She was laying against the inside of a cave, holding the back of her neck. She looked around, only to see trees and rocks. "I don't even know where the hell I am, _and_ it's so much worse in this dress."

Leiko went over in her head what happened after she saw Cassandra in the mirror. She felt the fingers go across her chin, and she felt her hands around her neck. Where she disappeared to, she didn't know. However, Leiko's Soul Perception was as good as Maka's.

"She's near," Leiko muttered, feeling the soul protect disappear, and a witch soul replace it. Leiko stood up, taking her hand off her tile cut. Pieces of black scab came off with her hand. As she looked, she chuckled. Leiko looked around her, and pinpointed where the witch's soul was laying. She looked into the darkness that was the cave, and turned her right arm into her double-edged scythe.

"Nice strike of irony, Cassandra," Leiko muttered. She started to walk right into the place she took shelter in. "Prepare to have your soul eaten by Leiko Evans."

* * *

**Author's Note: Yup .3. Yes, I did leave another cliff hanger. Oh well! More to look forward to, right? I do apologize for this one being significantly shorter than the rest (by about two hundred words or so XP), so don't chew my head off for that please! Next few chapters are gonna be interesting, huh? Remember, Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**~ Nicole**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Maka's team ran into the forest prepared to see blood, and lots of it. The idea of seeing it didn't bug them much. The idea of it being their own friend's blood is what scared them, and not just anything scares this elite group of meisters and weapons. The other thing that bugged Maka was piecing together who Leiko really was. She felt how uneasy Stein was about her, and was becoming suspicious with how she had been acting lately as well. If she as undercover for some witch, she was a pretty bad one.

"_What's wrong, Maka?" _Soul asked from his void of being a scythe. Maka shook her head, and kept her eyes glued to the path to the witch's soul. "_I felt weird about Leiko at first, too. I know she can't be evil or something, but,"_ he trailed off.

It wasn't more than ten minutes before they reached the entrance to the cave. Maka was uneasy about how quiet it was. If Leiko was going to the witch they would've either met her on the way, or see her from the entrance. She felt the witch's soul was deep in the cave, much deeper than it appeared.

"She's in there somewhere," she said.

"It's too quiet out here," BlackStar said, looking around. "Either it's lacking a party, or something's wrong."

"Obviously," Kidd said. "This cave must lead into a cave system underground."

"Well, nothing's stopping us," Maka said, entering the cave with her team following close behind. They walked into the darkness, at least one hand on each side of the cave to find alternate routes.

"We could really use a flashlight right now," BlackStar said. "It's freaking pitch black in here!"

"Quiet," Maka said. "We need the element of surprise." BlackStar rolled his eyes, and grumbled his complaints to Tsubaki.

They walked for ten minutes until they felt the cave split off into two separate caves. When Maka felt for the path nearest to the witch, it led right down the middle, where there was none.

"We're gonna have to guess, she's somewhere in the middle of the cave system," she said to her team. "Soul and I will go right, BlackStar and Kidd go left."

"Why are you going alone?" Kidd asked. "We're still fighting a witch, here."

"Because I'm leader," she said. "Besides, we'll probably meet up along the lines anyway. It's all connected here."

"Fine," Kidd said. "Be careful."

Those were the last words Maka and Soul heard before plunging into eternal darkness. They walked for what seemed like hours, and never found another cave connecting to the path they chose. The further they walked, the bigger the feeling of the witch's soul got.

"_Do you feel that,"_ Soul asked. "_It's like concentrated madness, almost."_

"Yeah, I do," Maka replied. "The witch's soul is right around there, too."

"_Can witches even go mad?"_ Soul asked his partner.

"I'd assume they could, but it would take a lot of it considering witches kinda use madness for spells and stuff, from the Sway of Magic," she replied, feeling the wall for guidance.

"_Geez, you _do _know a lot,"_ her partner replied. Maka smirked, and nodded.

"That's a bookworm for ya," she replied.

The rest of the walking was in silence, knowing they were getting closer to the witch. However, the only thing keeping Maka from running in was that she couldn't feel Leiko's soul. Soul knew this was worrying her, and it worried him too. Usually, if you can't feel someone's soul wavelength, it means they're dead or out of reach. Knowing she went in the cave to find Cassandra, her soul wavelength would be in reach.

Eventually, the cave started to taper to a small entry to a larger cave. Maka could easily fit through it by crawling, but Soul's scythe couldn't. Maka looked through the small hole, doubting if he could even fit through in his human form.

"Just transform, crawl through, and turn back into a scythe," she said, mentally measuring the hole. Soul transformed back into his human form, looking at the hole.

"I dunno, Maka. It's pretty small. Maybe I could kick out a bit of it to make the hole bigger," he said. Maka shook her head, looking at the rock.

"Even if the wall wasn't as thick as it is, this kind of rock is _extremely_ hard to break. It was clever of that witch to hide out here; confusing caves, super strong walls, and they're probably sound proof in some places," Maka said. "Just try to squeeze through."

"Ugh, fine," Soul said. She tried to shimmy through the hole, but his shoulders had gotten stuck. "Dammit, that's the last time I listen to you!"

Before Maka could help pull her partner through, the walls around them shook. The force came from a ways up the path they took. It sounded as though something heavy was being thrown at one of the walls, or something heavy dropped hard on the ground.

"You heard that, right?" Maka asked her partner.

"Yeah, now get me out before this whole cave falls in," Soul said as a sense of claustrophobia started to set in. Maka looked for something to grab onto without hurting her partner, but since his arms were on the other side of the hole, her only choice was his hair.

"This may hurt a bit," she said, grabbing his hair.

"Wait, Maka, I'm sure you can- _DAMMIT!" _Soul yelled as Maka pulled on his hair. She gave three hard tugs, and half of his arms pulled through. Soul was able to squeeze each arm out of the hole one at a time, and pull himself through. "Tell me when you plan on pulling my hair out!"

"Hey, it was the only thing I could grab on to," she replied, crossing her arms.

"What about my jacket," Soul asked angrily, rubbing his head. Maka's face flushed, embarrassed.

"Well, I'll know that for next time! Now, let's go find that witch," she said, walking towards the rumbling. Soul grumbled and cursed his partner out under his breath, following her. "I wonder where BlackStar and Kidd are."

"Probably either fighting each other or remodeling the cave," he said, walking next to Maka. They walked in silence, feeling the walls for more tremors.

"Maka," Soul said, looking at his partner through the dark. "What kind of weird feeling do you have about Leiko?"

"I don't know, really," she answered. "I know she isn't a witch or evil or anything, but I can't help but feel I know her from somewhere. It's probably because she's most likely related to you."

"Pssh, how do you know that," Soul asked, rolling his eyes. Maka looked at him, dumbfounded at his lack of thinking.

"Seriously? She looks _just like you_, and you have the _same last name_," she said. "If I had a Venn diagram, the middle bit would be overflowing with similarities."

"Whatever," he said. "I don't know what it is about her, but I'd try to protect her as much as I would you, ya know? Probably cuz she's new and I hate bullies."

"Probably," Maka agreed.

* * *

"This cave goes on forever!" BlackStar shouted, throwing his hands in the air. "Why can't we just bust down these walls to find that damn witch?"

"These caves are solidified with so many different kinds of rocks, it's almost impossible to break through. Besides, we've probably walked ten different paths already. Cassandra is a clever witch, I'll give her that," Kidd replied. "I wouldn't be surprised if her plan was to have us lose our way and die in here all along."

"Ya think that's why we haven't found her or Leiko? And why we haven't heard from Maka and Soul?" BlackStar asked.

"Don't think so negatively," Tsubaki said from her weapon void, reflection flashing onto her chain scythe blade. "We're going to find all of them and get out."

"I hope so," Liz said from her pistol form. "You guys are pretty cool around dark and creepy places like this."

"I'm the Grim Reaper's son, Liz. I'm not scared easily," Kidd said.

"But putting a picture off two centimeters will kill you," BlackStar muttered.

"It's more serious than it seems!" Kidd screamed, raging about symmetry.

"Way to go, BlackStar," Liz said. "Now we have three problems to fix in these caves."

* * *

Maka and Soul had been walking for what seemed like ages since the hole-in-the-wall incident. They were ready to curl up and die from all the walking in the dark and confusion from the cave system. They walked as far as they could, until the cave stopped in a dead end.

"Dammit!" Soul yelled, punching the wall. Before they could start walking back, a cracking noise was heard. "What was that?"

Maka felt the dead end, and felt what seemed to be a small crack in the rock.

"Soul, punch it again!"

"Why? You said we couldn't break through this stuff," he said.

"Here, feel it," she said, putting his hand on the wall. He took his hand off, and felt a dry but moldable residue. "It's clay, not rock. It hardened from the air exposure, but water from above ground is absorbing into it. If we can break through, we can get to the witch! Her soul is right on the other side of this wall, I know it."

"Whatever you say," he replied. The two of them started to punch and kick at the wall. Slowly, but surely, the clay was giving in. With one last Maka Chop, most of the wall crumbled to their feet. The new doorway gave them a new path to take, which had a dim light at the end of it, glowing like a firefly.

"Look's like we're on our own for this, huh?" Maka asked, looking at her partner.

"We can do it," Soul replied, smirking and showing off his shark smile. "We're too cool to not win."

* * *

**Author's Note: So sorry this was a day late! I didn't have inspiration the last few days, and I was feeling sick yesterday XP But I'm back :) UGH, this chapter is so slow. I needed to find a way to lead up to a huge event, as well as adding in humor and some dialogue that fits the situation .3. So, bear with me here. Remember: Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**~ Nicole**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Maka smiled, and nodded. The two students made their way closer and closer to the dim candle light. With each step, the light grew bigger, and an aroma of roses filled the hall. They reached the opening from where the light poured out, and saw a woman crouched over something, next to a full length body mirror.

As she turned, her beautiful features shocked Maka and Soul. Under a black hood that faded to blood red at the sleeves and hems of her cloak revealed a rich and bright ginger head of hair, curls reaching past her chest and down her back. She glared at the meister and weapon with bright blue eyes that lacked empathy and saneness. Her fair and well-kept skin gave her the appearance of a gorgeous young woman, but that image was shattered by her blood lusting grin and glare. Underneath her cloak was a blue and gold silk dress, ending above her bare feet.

"You," Maka growled. Soul changed into his scythe form, and was caught by his meister. "You must be the Witch Cassandra."

"You must be Meister Maka Albarn," the witch's silk voice cooed, sending shivers down Maka's spine. "And Soul Evans, her weapon." Maka could almost feel Soul gorwl at his real name, never wanting to hear it.

"Where's Leiko?" Soul demanded from his weapon form's voice, reflection appearing on his blade. Cassandra laughed at the two, one that reeked of insanity. She stepped aside, and circled around the two, revealing Leiko on the ground, laying in a puddle of her own dark red, almost black, blood.

"You seriously don't know who she is, do you," she asked. "I do, and she does. I know _everything_ that's going to happen here and now, so you two might as well slit your own throats." Cassandra dragged her dark blue painted nails across the wall, leaving scratch marks without even trying.

"And how could you be certain?" Maka asked, backing away to form a plan.

"I am, well _was, _a witch of Troy. Knowing the whole _myth_ of how Troy burnt to the ground because no one listened to my gift, I moved on. I wanted to help my family save Troy, but my curse being no one trusting my gift of sight, they dug their own graves.

"I _could_ tell you what is going to happen in this cave here, but you just won't listen. I _could_ tell you who your friend here really is. I _could_ tell you what would've happened to you two if Leiko never came here, but that would just be too dangerous to everyone to explain. That is, until you two are on your death bed, which you will, by the way."

"I heard you were insane," Soul said, almost taunting her. Cassandra glared at the two, a red mist coming from her mad soul. Pitch black dove wings, tips drenched in blood, erupted from her back, which looked like a perfect manifestation of her soul wavelength.

"_I am not insane!" _Cassandra screamed, shooing what seemed like feathers from her hands straight for Maka's throat. If it wasn't for her quick instincts, she'd be dead in seconds. Maka jumped out of the way of Cassandra's feathers just quick enough for them to slice up her clothes, fizzling into nothing when they crashed into the wall. Maka could feel how her soul was ridden with madness. After realizing her snap of insanity, Cassandra sighed, and her wings folded back into her soul. "Excuse my temper."

"You're soul is infested with Madness, Cassandra," Maka said, positioning her scythe, ready to strike. "You should be a weather girl, not a witch."

"And why is that, Maka?" Cassandra asked, giggling while putting her hood down, eyes and hands glowing.

"Because your little forecast about our death is wrong!" Maka jumped at Cassandra, aiming Soul's blade for her head. The witch dissipated into down feathers at the slightest touch of the weapon.

"You really are just like the others," Cassandra muttered behind them. "I'm not as predictable as your little Medusa was, you see. I'm one of the oldest _civilized _witches there ever was!"

Cassandra's nail grew and sharpened to those of a raptor's talons. She launched herself at Maka, who turned on a dime to protect herself using Soul as a shield. The witch smiled as her nails scratched the scythe blade, leaving marks of her claws. Maka jumped back, feeling Soul's pain.

"Soul, are you okay," she asked, watching Cassandra's every move.

"I'm fine," he said, scratches covering his arms in the reflection. "Stay focused on her, not me." Maka nodded, and watched for any attacks.

Cassandra advanced towards Maka, and clawed at her again. Maka leaned back, dodging her by centimeters, smelling the polish on her fingers. Cassandra's eyes were contracted, and her smile was full of madness. She pulled her hand back, and shot the other right for Maka's stomach. Not seeing this quick enough, Maka didn't move, and Soul screamed at her to fall back.

The sound of metal scratching metal ricochet echoed throughout the cave as Leiko stood between Maka and Cassandra, her own double-edged blade arm breaking the witch's metal nails. The witch's evil glare melted into one of surprise and disgust.

"Too bad you can only focus on one future," Leiko muttered, looking down with blood dripping from her face and mouth as she flashed her shark teeth. "Didn't even see me coming."

Leiko was in no way, shape, or form fit to fight a witch, especially one of Cassandra's caliber. Her gorgeous dress was practically in shreds, just enough to cover what needed to be. Parts of her stomach and back that were showing were stained red from the gashes across her body. Her hair had been let down, and hacked at from dodging attacks. Her bangs were cut on a diagonal, reaching to the corner of her cheek. The long hair that fell down her back was now only half of what it used to be. The pure white color of it was spotted and stained of her own blood, looking like a botched hair dye experiment. The smeared puddle of her blood on the floor from her struggling covered the back of her legs, and drips of it trailed down her front.

"How can you-" Cassandra stuttered, admiring Leiko's comeback. "You're supposed to be _dead!"_ Leiko lifted her head, revealing the same smile she had before when the madness too her over. The same gray ring around her eyes appeared, and her toothy grin was ready to rip out someone's throat. She stumbled closer to her enemy, giggling, leaving a terrified Maka and a concerned Soul behind her. Cassandra chuckled, and put her hood back on.

"Now I see where your name came from, Ms. Arrogant, thinking you're all that and a bag of chips. You really think you can end me, especially after what I did to them on your graduation day," Cassandra taunted. Leiko's smile melted, and her temper flared as she jumped at the witch, blade arm out and ready.

* * *

_Leiko was in the Black Room again, standing with the harp. The little demon was chewing on his fingers again, drool dripping from his sharpened teeth. She looked at the door, knowing it would only open to the wall. She looked back at the harp, and shook her head._

_"All that I worked for, everyone I've met, everything is crumble if I don't do this," she muttered to herself. She sighed, and sat back down at the stool. She took a quick look at the demon, who was almost ready to bounce off the walls, and smirked. "I guess I'm not off the madness wagon all the way, huh?"_

_Leiko rested her fingertips on the strings of the harp, and took a deep breath in. As she took a slow, and calm breath out, her fingers pulled and played the strings of the harp almost expertly. A beautiful hum came from each string, molding together as one gorgeous sounding song._

_As she played, the red mist of madness surrounded her figure, and started to leak into her real self, propelling her limp body into battle. Too quick for her liking, the song started to sound distorted, like she was losing her own sanity._

* * *

Soul could almost hear Leiko's playing from his own void as she jumped at Cassandra, madness blazing from her own madness. It was an eerily familiar feeling to his own insanities, his own piano playing.

"Maka-"

"I feel it too," she said before her partner could finish. "She must have black blood to be able to use her madness like that. I can hear a harp playing."

"We need to pull her out, Maka," he said. "I barely got out of it with your help, she has _no one_ controlling her." Maka nodded, and rushed at the witch and Leiko fighting. Without a moment to stop and think, Leiko kicked her leg back, smashing Maka into a wall. She looked at her friends, and giggled.

"This is _my_ mission," she said, holding in bubbly laughter. "My blood will help me more than you ever could! It's almost black, ya know." She went back to watching for the witch, who had disappeared. "Where are you, Sandy?"

Minutes passed, and there was no sign of her. Maka stood up, struggling from shaky legs. Soul changed to his human form, and helped her get on her feet. They watched Leiko tap on the walls and call out for the witch, obviously not herself.

"She's gone," Maka managed to say, holding her stomach, hurt from Leiko's foot. "I can't feel her soul anymore."

Leiko turned to see the two students struggling to get up, hurt and sore from what she did. When she realized what happened, the sight of it pulled her right out of the madness. When her arm changed back into a human arm from a blade, and the gray from her eyes disappeared, her wounds started to bleed again. Her eyes quickly closed shut, and she fell to her side, blood puddling around her again.

"Leiko!" Soul and Maka shouted. They looked at each other, debating on what to do.

"You stay here with her, I'll look for BlackStar and Kidd," Soul said. Maka tried to fight him on it, but he didn't take no for an answer. "You need to rest, anyways. Plus, you can tell if her soul is gone or not. If I'm not back in ten minutes, take Leiko and go find help yourselves."

"Soul-" Maka said, but he was gone in a flash. She sighed, and looked at Leiko. "Men can be so arrogant. Please stay with me, Leiko," she said, fearing more and more as she felt her friend's soul wavelength get dimmer and dimmer with every passing minute.

* * *

**Author's Note: OHMYGOSH THIS IS SOOO LATE I AM SOOO SORRY**

**Of course, I do have a half-ass good excuse ^^; I've been swampped with last minute summer reading stuff, and along with procrastinating this fight scene. I can't write fight or romantic scenes well ;^; Please excuse my terrible explanations! Remember: Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**~ Nicole**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Maka started to panic as Leiko's soul wavelength diminished ever so slowly. She looked around the witch's cave room for any sort of help, and her eye caught a full length mirror in a corner. She smiled, and pulled herself over to the mirror. Once she was able to reach it, she fogged up a spot and tried to contact Lord Death.

"42-42-564," she wrote on the mirror, "whenever you want to, knock on Death's door." The mirror started to fade from her reflection, and the academy's leader and founder appeared in the mirror, Lord Death.

"Maka," he greeted happily, giving two peace signs. "Good to see ya, good to see ya! What's going on?"

"Lord Death, we're in a huge bind," Maka said. She explained what happened, and hoped to see Lord Death worried. That was hard, since his mask doesn't really show any emotion. "We need help! Leiko's going to die if we don't-"

"Azusa will make a map of the cave system, and I'll send Sid and Stein for you and Leiko," he said, nodding. "After we get you two into the infirmary, Sid will go looking for the rest of your team."

"Thank you, Lord Death," Maka said, nodding her head. "Please, be quick."

* * *

_She was in her void again. Not in the Black Room, or in her own mind, but in her weapon void. Leiko was scared of the darkness, which is very unlike her. She felt the same way she did when her weapon form first came about. Never liking the darkness as a child, she registered herself as strictly a meister when training. However, after years of being alone, without a weapon to control, she faced her fear of the darkness, and used herself as her own weapon._

_"This isn't right," she muttered, holding her arms close to her chest and watching her breath appear. "It's never this cold. This has to be somewhere different."_

_She dropped her arms, and felt her own body was an icicle. Her fingertips could barely feel anything, and the feeling in her toes was gone. She touched her bare stomach, and felt a shock of ice go trough her fingertips, up her arms, and into her body. She gasped, watching her a puff of steam come out of her mouth._

_"I'm gonna die in here," she said, rubbing her hands together. "It's so cold!"_

_Leiko looked up and down, side to side, all around her for some way out; or at least a source of warmth. Before giving up, she saw a small blue light from the corner of her eye. She looked, and tried to catch up to it. It was moving, but slow enough for her to see what it was. It was her soul, slowly diminishing and moving into nothing._

_"It's so small," she said as she held her own soul. "My ego must be like, ten times the size of this thing."_

_Leiko chuckled to herself. She brought her soul close to her chest, almost hugging it. Once it touched her chest, a wave of warmth rushed into her body, giving her chills. She looked down at her soul, and saw it start to grow. She smiled, and watched it grow and grow until it engulfed her, warming her very core._

* * *

Leiko's eyes fluttered open, but was almost blinded by the sunlight pouring in through the window. She felt bandages wrapped around her head and chest, and bandaids on her arms and legs. She was laying on her side, facing the window. When her vision focused, she noticed the surrounding room was the infirmary of the DWMA. She sat up on her hospital-like bed, but feel stinging and pulling on her back and stomach. She groaned, and laid back on her side. She looked around what parts of the room her head could turn to, and seemingly saw no one.

"Hmm, guess it's a weekend," she muttered. She slowly pulled herself up, careful not to move her back or stomach much. She was able to sit up, but not without pain. Looking around the whole room, she saw Maka, asleep in one of the visitor chairs by the door. She chuckled, and shook her head. Raising her voice, she tried to wake Maka up. "You're gonna get a stiff neck sleeping in a wooden chair, Maka."

Maka's head jerked up, and her eyes snapped open. She rushed over to Leiko's side with a face of worry and relief mixed together.

"You're awake!" Maka shouted with foggy eyes, making Leiko jump. "Sorry, hehe. I'm so glad you made it through."

"Through what exactly? The witch hunt, the madness, what," Leiko asked.

"The surgeries, mostly," she replied. Leiko's mouth dropped, and looked at Maka with confusion.

"What surgeries?" Leiko shouted, throwing her hands into the air.

"Look at your stomach, and your back when you're allowed to walk," Maka replied, looking at the floor.

Leiko pushed the blankets off her, and gasped. She had a stitch scar going across the top of her stomach. It started under her ribs on her right side, and traveled diagonally to her left hip. She was almost appalled, but remembered what the witch did to her.

"You have two of those on your back," Maka muttered. "Stein was afraid you lost too much blood to survive. He told me your heart stopped twice during the surgery."

"That's what the dream meant," Leiko muttered, remembering the cold void she was trapped in.

"What dream?" Maka asked, looking at the stitched up girl.

"I had this dream, or vision, or _something_ where I was in a black void, like the one when I'm in my weapon form, but it was super cold. Like, seriously, _way _too cold to be my normal place. I looked all over the place for something to warm me up, or I'd probably die. Then, I saw this blue light, and found my soul. It was really small," she explained, putting an open hand out.

"It could fit into the palm of my hand. When I held it, it started to grow, and just engulfed everything. Then I felt a surge of heat, and woke up," Leiko finished. "I'll assume that was one of the times I 'died.'"

"You pulled yourself out of it," Maka said, smiling. "You really have an excellent handle on control, like with madness and stuff."

"No, I really don't," Leiko muttered, realizing the bandages on Maka's face and remembering what she did. She looked down at her hands, and pulled them into fists. Her fists were so tight, her own nails dug into her skin, almost drawing blood. "If I did, you wouldn't have those things on your face."

"Don't blame yourself for that," she said, smiling. Leiko looked up, and couldn't help but smile back. "I'll go call Soul and tell him you're okay. We got split up for a while, when he went to go find BlackStar and Kidd. When they found him, Sid brought him straight to our apartment, and us here."

Leiko nodded, and watched Maka leave the room to use the wall phone in the hallway. She looked back at her new scar, visions of the Black Room flashing through her mind. She shook her head, trying to forget about them. Foggy scenes of the fight with Cassandra replaced them. She couldn't believe how strong she was, but how her stupidity matched it.

Before Maka came back in, Stein walked to see Leiko's condition. The look in his eyes told Leiko he knew too much.

"How are you holding up?" Stein asked, clicking the screw in his head while sending shivers down Leiko's back.

"Eh, I've been better," she said. "I woke up a few minutes ago, and learned that I died a few times during your stitching me up." Stein chuckled, and took a look at the door. When he saw Maka still on the phone, he smirked.

"You have the same attitude as your father," he said, quiet enough for Leiko to hear. The words echoed inside her head as her heart stopped, realizing her suspicions were right.

"I have no idea what you mean," she muttered, looking down at her fists again.

"I'm not stupid, Leiko," he said. "I needed a blood donation for your surgery, and Maka's blood type matched yours perfectly. After doing a few tests with some other students' DNA from past accidents, I confirmed my suspicions about who you really are. Unraveling your plan didn't take me too long. Realizing the consequences if I explained my findings to anyone close to anyone in the DWMA, or even associated with it, I'll keep my mouth shut."

Leiko chuckled, and gave Stein a toothy smile. His hand traveled around his pocket, and pulled out Leiko's watch. Her eyes widened, and snatched it out of his hand, instantly strapping it on to her wrist.

"Like I said, it wasn't that hard to figure out your plan," he continued. "I have the blueprints to that exact device in my lab. I still haven't found a stable energy source, but now I know that I will. The only thing I don't understand is _why_ you want to kill Cassandra, personally."

"Soul will be here in a few minutes," Maka said, walking back into the room. "Hi, Professor."

"Hello Maka," he said. "I was just checking up on Leiko here."

"When can I get out of this place," she asked, wanting to just leave and walk around.

"In a week or so, maybe a few days if your internal wounds heal faster than expected. That witch did some real damage on the inside," he explained.

"Why did you go after her?" Maka asked. "She's one of the oldest witches we know of."

"It's no big deal," Leiko lied. "I just need to do this. No one else, me. When can I go look for that bitch?"

"Well, you'll be on medical leave until the outside wounds heal," Stein replied.

"So I'll be on house arrest for a few weeks?"

"Pretty much," Maka said. "It's not much fun, but it'll go by fast." Leiko heard a light humming coming from the window, and looked out to see Soul parking his bike. She chuckled, and opened the window.

"When that kid wants to move, he _moves_," she said, watching him run up the front steps of the academy.

"And when he wants to sleep, he _sleeps_," Maka said. The two girls chuckled, and Stein smiled. Then, Soul barreled into the infirmary, tripping over his own feet. The three of them looked at him, dusting dirt off his black jacket.

"I left as soon as Maka called," he said, walking to Leiko. "How're you feeling?"

"I've been better," she replied. She put a hand on her stomach scar, wanting to rip the thread out. "These stitches are really itchy."

"You get used to them after a while," he replied, smirking. "You were out for like, a week."

"What?" Leiko shouted. Maka gave Soul her famous "Maka-Chop" and sent him to the neighboring infirmary bed, his head acting like a fountain.

"Don't listen to him," she said. "It's only been a day and a half since they found us in that cave."

"What's the date," she asked. Maka looked at the calendar across the room, and nodded.

"Thursday, April 19th," she replied. Leiko sighed, and looked out her window. "What's wrong?"

"I hoped I would've been unconscious for Saturday," she replied, looking at Maka.

"Why? There aren't any things due this week," Maka said, confused. Leiko chuckled, and shook her head.

"I could care less about homework," she said. "I'll be fifteen on the twenty-first."

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry about the wait, again! ^^; Well, I made this one a bit longer than usual for you guys :3 Plus, some suspense and explanations were needed :D The next one is either going to be a key chapter, or one of those pointless-fun ones that people want to skip .3. I haven't decided yet! Remember: Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**~ Nicole**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"You didn't tell us your birthday was coming up!" Maka shouted. She started ranting on about what they could do for her, being a special birthday. Leiko tried to stop her, but ideas spewed from Maka's mouth like a fountain.

"I really just want to forget about my birthday," Leiko cut in, crossing her arms. Maka's mouth dropped, appalled.

"But why? It's your birthday, Leiko!" Maka shouted. Soul stepped in, and agreed with Leiko.

"If she doesn't want to do anything, we don't do anything," he said, leaning against the wall. "Simple as that. Honestly, Maka, you make such big deals out of these things."

Maka sighed, and agreed to not do anything special for Saturday. Throughout the day, more students and teachers stopped in to say hi and ask what happened to Leiko. Everyone seemed to know the basic story, mostly because BlackStar was boasting about escaping a cave system hosting a witch, saying he was more powerful than a god.

When she was alone, Leiko focused more on what the Black Room really was, and what that little demon wanted. She ran over her memories of it for hours, trying to figure out what it all meant. She questioned her morality, sanity, and even humanity. She looked at the differences between her, her family, her friends, and even her enemies. The only thing Leiko was sure of was she was the only person who had a little demon living in her head. However, she never asked anyone else if their Hell lived in their head, too.

Suddenly, a flashback to her youth offered the key to her madness.

* * *

_Leiko was naturally a curious child. Her snow white hair was in pigtails, and her eyes were slowly turning from emerald green to crimson red. She was about three and a half feet tall, and loved to hijack accessories from her parents. She "borrowed" two red bows for her pigtails from her mother that matched her red and pink sundress, and black painted barefoot toes._

_At the tender age of six, she stumbled upon records of her family in the attic. Being the locks to the filing cabinets were rusted, she knew her blade could sever the lock from the cabinet. When she remembered the void, she regarded the scythe in her as nothing, and used a piece of plywood to break it._

_She pulled out handfuls of records at a time, reading as much as she could of birth certificates and medical things. She recognized her name, and her parents' names. While going through the documents, she found something that peaked her interest: her parents' DMWA physicals._

_"Hmm," she said to herself as she looked for her parents' names. She pulled out a sheet that read her mother's. "It's Mama's!"_

_Leiko read over what her mother did at her time in the DWMA, and felt even more honored to have a mother like her. She smiled at every good deed that her mother did, and was amazed at all she accomplished. She put her mother's papers aside, and looked at her father's. When she saw his picture, Leiko couldn't help but giggle, since he didn't change much, somewhat like her mother._

_However, when she came across his medical records from the DWMA, she was puzzled at one thing. She read over how he had to undergo surgery from an attack of a demon sword. There were only two lifelong precautions listed from the surgery. They read "Possible Organ Damage for Life; Black Blood."_

_"Black blood? I'll ask Mama," Leiko asked herself. She kept hold of the record as she climbed down the hardwood stairs, and through the small hallway that led into her parents' bedroom. She ran downstairs to find her mother making lunch._

_Leiko's mother seemed like any other stay-at-home mom, but her reputation was legendary. Not only was she known for her DWMA accomplishments, but for being married to, and raising a child with the current Death Scythe at the DWMA of Death City. She had ashen blonde hair that was either kept down, or in a high ponytail. She had a figure that surpassed her youth's in any good way. When puberty hit her, it washed over her with the best traits a woman could ask for. Her emerald green eyes could mesmerize anyone, especially her husband. As she was chopping food for a homemade fruit salad, Leiko tugged on her skirt. She looked down, and smiled as she saw her adorable daughter._

_"Yes, hon," she asked. Leiko sat up on one of the bar stools that was poised in front of the kitchen's island, opposite the side that her mother was working on._

_"Mommy, what's black blood?" Leiko asked innocently. Her mother's chopping stopped dead in it's tracks, and her body froze. "Mama?"_

_"It's nothing you need to worry about," she replied. She looked at her daughter with a serious face. "How do you know about that?"_

_Leiko handed her mother the records she found, confused about why her mother thought black blood was so taboo. She asked her mother again, what it was, but her mother just stared at the forms._

_"Leiko, we've told you to stay away rom the attic," she said. "It's dangerous up there."_

_"But those files are really cool! I read what you and Daddy did when you went to school, and I wanna be just like you," Leiko said, smiling. Her mother sighed, and kissed Leiko's head. She gave a worried smile, and folded the paper, putting it in her back pocket. She hugged her daughter, which made Leiko giggle._

_"You're looking more like your father everyday, Leiko. The next thing you know, you'll have his attitude," she said, returning to her lunch making. "Although, I'm not sure if that's a good thing."_

_"Isn't that why you named me my name?" Leiko asked, giggling. "You're always calling Daddy bigheaded, like me!" Her mother chuckled, and nodded. "I'm just like Daddy!"_

* * *

"It's my blood," Leiko muttered, returning to Earth from the depths that are her memories. She looked at her fists, and sighed. "I _am _just like Dad."

* * *

Leiko watched the hours go by, day in and day out, until she was awakened at seven on the dot, Saturday morning. Being that she healed extremely fast, faster than Stein expected, she was due to go back home on her birthday. Whoever was trying to wake her up should've been ready to throw her out of bed. Leiko groaned, and threw the covers over her face.

"Leiko, you can go home today," Maka said, shaking the sleepy teen by the shoulders. "Well, we're going somewhere, and you can come if you wanna."

"Face it, Maka," Soul said from the doorway. "If she isn't getting up now, she won't until lunch time."

"I'm up, I'm getting there," Leiko said, groggily throwing her legs over the side of the bed, and stretching. Her hair was going in all different directions, and her pajamas were wrinkled from head to toe. She rubbed her eyes free of sleep sand, and squinted from the bright sunlight filtering in through the windows. "Where do you guys plan on going?"

"The beach!" Maka said, excited. "The seven of us thought it would be a good idea. We need a break, and we can celebrate you getting out of the infirmary!"

"Something doesn't seem right with your plans," Leiko said, pointing at Maka. "It better not be what I think it is."

"I have no idea what you mean," Maka said, obviously lying. Soul gave himself a well-deserved face-palm, and shook his head. "You should come!" Leiko yawned, and then smirked.

"Fine," she said. Maka smiled big, and giggled. "However, if this has anything to do with my birthday, I'll kill you."

"Your birthday's today?" Maka asked artificially. "It must've slipped my mind!"

* * *

The trip up to the beach was much longer than it should've been. The eight of them planned to take a bus to the coast, but it was delayed due to many things. First of all, Leiko was consistently watching Maka for signs of a birthday party. Her shifty behavior that really wasn't convincing threw her off the whole morning and trip there. After getting food packed, they went to meet up with the rest of their friends at the station, Kidd being an hour late. Once he got there, he was a wreck. Liz then explained that he was having a temper tantrum over his swimming trunks' wrinkles not being symmetrical.

By the time they actually got to the water, it was almost two in the afternoon. This would't have been a problem, however Maka, Leiko, and Soul had left the apartment around nine in the morning. After finding a spot on the each, and setting up, everyone ran for the water. Everyone, except Leiko. She sat on the towel, and watched. Soul found this weird, and walked back.

"You coming or what?" Soul asked, standing over her. He noticed she was still wearing her new clothes, being black skinny jeans and a red sleeveless top, finished with her recognizable soul-pictogram belt. "You're not even in your suit!"

"It's under my clothes," she said. "I'm probably not gonna swim, anyway."

"Why not? It's like, eighty-five degrees out," he said, hands on his hips. Leiko shrugged, and looked down. Soul felt like something was off, and sat next to her. "What's wrong?"

"The scars," she muttered. "I don't want anyone to see."

"Why?" Soul asked. Leiko looked right at his bare chest, at his own stitch scar. "Honestly, it makes you look like a badass."

"Really," she asked, chuckling. She sighed, and nodded. "Fine, I'll go in."

"Finally," Soul said, getting up. "I don't need a roasted scythe out here." He ran back to the water, tackling BlackStar to the ground in the process. Leiko chuckled watching the group. She noticed how well they worked and played together, like they've known each other since they were born.

She gave in to the tempting of the sea, and threw off her cover-up clothes, her high ponytail dancing in the breeze. Knowing all three of her scars were showing, she wanted to crawl into a cave. However, Leiko knew she felt cooler without her clothes, and in her bathing suit. She wore a strapless bikini top, thick stripped with red and black. Her string bottom matched, having three stripes of black, and three of red.

She walked to the edge of the dry sand, and watched the waves. Thoughts about black blood and the little demon plagued her mind, until someone from behind threw her over their shoulder.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Leiko's scream was cut off by the crashing wave she was thrown into, by none other than BlackStar.

"What the hell?" Leiko screamed once she got her footing from being clobbered by incoming waves.

"Being the king of this monarchy, you need to know i'm at the top and-" BlackStar started.

"You're not a leader, BlackStar," Kidd said, rolling his eyes. "If anything, you'd be the jester."

"What are you talking about? I'm BlackStar! I'm the man who's gonna surpass God, remember?" BlackStar said, starting to boast again.

"Good job, Kidd," Soul said. "You got him started again."

Before anyone could notice, Leiko tackled BlackStar to the ground, pinning him there. She had him on his stomach, sitting on his back.

"That's for throwing me in," she said, smirking. A wave crashed, and washed over BlackStar, drenching him and filling his mouth with sea water. "And _that's_ for telling everyone about Cassandra!"

"I don't see how it's such a big deal," BlackStar muttered. "Witch hunts are witch hunts!"

Leiko rolled her eyes, and got off of the sand-filled self-proclaimed god. Throughout the afternoon, everyone's worries and fears were lifted off their shoulders. This was the first time in a long while that they felt like real kids, instead of students and hunters. The three boys focused on who was stronger, and wrestled in the water, not to mention almost drowning each other. The girls tried to relax on the beach, but every so often, something would interrupt. Before packing up and leaving around sunset, the eight of them sat in a circle on the beach, making Leiko keep her eyes closed.

"Why am I doing this?" Leiko asked, her eyes covered. Soul crept around her, holding a box.

"It's nothing," Maka said. "Just keep them closed."

Soul put the box in front of Leiko, and removed the cover. Sitting in front of her was a small birthday cake, big enough to cut eight triangle pieces. It had white base frosting, with a single red rose on it. In the middle, it read "Happy Birthday" in blue frosting. Tsubaki put five candles above the writing, and lit them.

"Okay," Maka said, smiling. "Open your eyes!"

Leiko took her hands off of her eyes, and saw the cake. She gasped, and looked at her seven friends, smiling.

"Happy birthday!" The seven shouted, chuckling and laughing. Leiko smiled shyly, eyes beginning to tear up.

"What's wrong? It was Maka's idea," BlackStar said, bringing notice to her tears. She flushed red, and wiped her eyes.

"Nothing," she said, chuckling. "I thought I said I'll kill you guys if you did anything."

"I'll take the chance," Maka said, smiling. "Now make a wish, before the candles melt into the cake."

Leiko thought about the whole wishing on birthday candles thing, and how childish it was. She never really understood it, but she humored the belief and tried to make it look like she made a wish. This time, however, she did make a wish.

_I wish I can finish what I started_, she thought to herself as she blew out the candles, her friends clapping in front of her. The cut the cake so everyone had a piece, and started chatting about whatever came up, sitting on the towels. Maka sat next to Leiko, who was watching the sun.

"You gonna eat?" Maka asked, looking at her untouched piece of cake. Leiko snapped back into reality, and nodded.

"How'd you know vanilla is my favorite?" Leiko asked, taking a bite.

"Well," she started, embarrassed a bit. "It's my favorite, and the only kind I have a recipe for."

"Kudos to the chef," Leiko replied with a face full of cake. "It's great!"

"Why did you get so mad at BlackStar for talking about the witch hunt," she asked. Leiko put her now empty plate down, and brought her knees to her chest.

"It's nothing," she said. "Just embarrassed I couldn't get her this time."

"You've been after her before?" Leiko nodded.

"I've come so close a bunch of times, but she knows what's gonna happen if I get that one shot in, so she takes off when my back is turned," she explained. Leiko lowered her voice to a whisper. "I need to destroy her for what she did."

"What was that?" Maka asked in a whisper, looking at Leiko. She noticed Leiko's eyes welled up again as she looked at the horizon.

_It's time to come clean,_ Leiko thought. _But not all the way_.

"She killed my family," Leiko whispered, wiping her eyes. "When I graduated to an elite team of meisters and weapons, she went after my parents when they didn't expect it because-" she stopped, realizing if she said anything about her parents would give her away. "Well, it doesn't matter why. That's why I didn't want anything for my birthday, it happened too close."

Maka didn't say anything. Leiko was about to ask her why she wasn't talking, but Maka just hugged her. Leiko's eyes were too teary to hold anything in, and she hugged back as tears rolled down her face. The two girls just sat there, hugging, and none of the boys could understand why.

"You two in love or something?" BlackStar asked.

"C'mon, we gotta pack up," Soul said s he threw his shirt on. Leiko and Maka chuckled, and nodded.

As the eight of them packed up their things to go back home, Leiko's memories of her parents being slain filled her mind. She remembered all the blood, splattered on the walls of her own home. She remembered the dual funeral, dressed in black for days until her anger boiled over. She remembered the cruel blue eyes that glared at her as she walked down the stairs, only to find her parents lying in pools of their own blood. The body that matched those blue eyes stood in the middle of it, the first witch to be as mad as she could.

* * *

_The day of Leiko's status graduation was the worst anyone could've thought possible. There, an innocent fourteen year old girl stood in her room, framing the picture of her friends and new team mates from the ceremony. She looked at the early birthday cards from distant relatives, each unopened until a few days later for her real birthday. Leiko was happy. Until, however, she heard two screams come from the living room downstairs._

_"Mama! Daddy!" Leiko screamed at the top of her lungs as she sprinted down the carpeted staircase, leading to the bloody scene._

_Her body froze as her bare feet landed in puddles of her parents' blood. Furniture and walls were all splattered with it, as was anything within the room. She saw her parents' bodies laying face down in their own blood, gashes all along them._

_In the middle of the room stood Cassandra, her face reeking of madness. She stepped towards the frozen Leiko, the blood splattering each girls' legs with every step. Cassandra lifted Leiko's frozen face with a hand covered in her parents' blood, leaving her chin smothered in it._

_"I'm sure you understand why I killed them," she hissed, smiling an evil smile. "You'd kill if someone tried to kill you, too."_

_Leiko fell to her knees, splattering blood on her face. Tears were rolling down her face, leaving clean streaks as they cut through the blood. Cassandra laughed, and kicked her into the middle of the room, between her parents._

_"Knowing how the Evans planned to kill me, their spawn is bound to try to end me as well," Cassandra said. She put a bare foot on Leiko's face, and chuckled. "Why so scared? You have Daddy's scythe blade, don't you? Mommy's too! You can't even move. Stupid girl, your parents would be ashamed at your fear. I know you have your father's little demon in you, why not go mad? Your fear will be gone, and the _maybe _you could scratch me up!_

_"You're too soft, honey. You have a weapon in you, why not use it? Because you're weak, scared, nothing like your parents! Even if you were anything like them, you couldn't kill me. I'd see it coming! Unlike your folks did, obviously." Cassandra said, her mad giggles turning into fury. She used her witch magic to create a dove feather made of her parents' blood and steel, and put it to Leiko's throat._

_"Get off me!" Leiko screamed, kicking her away. Cassandra landed on the glass coffee table, shattering it. She started to laugh as Leiko pulled her sobbing self to her feet._

_"Finally, you'll fight! I thought I'd kill you in the most boring way," she said, floating into the air. "Let's make this quick, shall we? If I let you live, I can see you trying to kill me again, and it won't end too well for you, anyway."_

_"Fine by me," Leiko growled, turning her right arm into her double-edged blade._

_"Oh, lookie, you're _not_ scared to use your gift!" Cassandra taunted. "Too bad you can't find a meister to use your own power!"_

_"Shut the hell up!" Leiko yelled, lunging at Cassandra. In a flash, she turned into down feathers, and Leiko fell into the shattered glass pieces, cutting herself up. Cassandra reappeared behind Leiko, and kicked her into the glass window, her limp body landing in the front yard. She followed the mixed blood trail, and put her dagger up to Leiko's throat again, who was barely breathing._

_"Your soul wavelength isn't too bright, Leiko," she said, chuckling. "Your namesake is going to be the death of you. So much for being the daughter of the great Maka Albarn and Soul 'Eater' Evans."_

* * *

**Author's Note: AAAGGGHHH the last chapter and most of this one was soo slow XP Oh well, major plot info here! :D I made up for the slowness, hehe :3 So, I ****_do _****have ideas for the ending of this story, which is coming near O: AND for a possible sequel? Tell me if you guys would like to me write one in the reviews! :D Remember: Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**~ Nicole**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

_"Your soul wavelength isn't too bright, Leiko." Cassandra said, chuckling. "So much for being the daughter of the great Maka Albarn and Soul Evans."_

_Cassandra went for the kill, aiming her dagger for Leiko's heart. In an instant, Leiko's blade arm covered her chest, weakly defecting the dagger. She smirked, and stood up from the blood stained grass._

_"I'm sure Aunt Tsubaki called for help, living across the way and hearing all this commotion," Leiko said, her arm blade gleaming in the evening sun. As if on cue, sirens started and DWMA officials were starting to gather._

_"Damn," Cassandra muttered. "Don't you worry, child. I'll kill you in due time, I've seen it!" In a flash, she disappeared into down feathers again, never to be seen to Leiko in her time._

_Leiko turned her arm back to normal, and watched as DWMA meisters flooded the area around her home. Lord Death walked to Leiko, followed by his two weapons, fearing the worst. He put a hand on her shoulder._

_"Tell me I'm wrong, Leiko," he said. She shook her head, and looked down. Tears flooded her eyes, and overflowed down her face._

_"They're gone, Uncle Kidd," she said, holding back her feelings. She wiped her face, and looked at the reaper. "I'm going to damn that witch to Hell personally, I swear it."_

* * *

At the apartment that night, Leiko couldn't sleep. She looked at her watch, and noticed the date was changed during the fights. She managed to change the date to the day of her graduation, and nodded.

"Can't let that get screwed up," she muttered to herself. "I got one shot to get back."

She watched the world around her through the window. She watched the city, and how everything consistently changed. Random street lights would flicker, and go out. Alley cats would fight each other, then share a meal. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a bird fly to the side of the apartment building.

She watched the silhouetted bird peck at cracks in the building, then look at her. An apartment's lights from across the alley flickered on, and revealed the bird. Leiko's heart stopped, seeing the black dove. It hopped closer to her window, not scared of her like a normal bird would. She slammed the window shut, waking both Maka and Soul.

"What was that?" Maka asked, walking from her room in her pajamas, still half asleep. She saw Leiko shaking, and ready to flip out. "Leiko!"

Maka ran to her side, trying to tear her hands off the window. Soul followed from his room, quickly understanding what happened. The two students were able to pry her off the window, and sit her on the couch. Leiko's hands were still positioned as if she were still holding the window. Her face was as pale as it could be, and wore a look of pure horror.

"Leiko, what happened?" Soul asked, shaking her shoulders and trying to get her to snap back into reality. She raised a shaking hand, and pointed to the window.

"B-Black d-d-dove," she managed to mutter. Soul went over to the window, opened it, and looked around the building. He shrugged, and closed it again.

"There's nothing out there," he said. "Maybe that fight with Cassandra is just messing with your head."

"No!" Leiko shouted, standing up. "She's following me!" Leiko ran out the apartment door, and outside the building.

"Leiko!" Soul and Maka shouted in unison. They followed her, running outside. Leiko ran to the side of the apartment, only to find the bird was no longer there. Her jaw dropped, and her fear was growing.

"B-But she was there," she muttered. "She was right there!" The two students ran to her side as she fell to her knees, sobbing into her hands. "Dammit, Leiko, g-get ahold of yourself."

"It's okay to cry, ya know," Maka said calmly. She kneeled next to Leiko, and put a hand on her shoulder. Leiko looked at her, and was greeted with a friendly smile. Leiko wiped her eyes, and stood up.

"I'm fine, now," she said, smirking a sharky smile. "Thanks, Maka."

"Let's go inside," Soul said, arms crossed. "It's cold out here with no shirt; never mind being freaking three in the morning."

The two girls giggled, and the three of them went back inside. While Soul and Maka went back to sleep, Leiko tried to stay awake. She gathered her emotional strength back to return to her past. She through back to the days of the funerals, her few hours at her "new" home, and what she decided to do.

* * *

_Leiko sat at a small kitchen table in a familiar house down the street from her own, which still haunted her. She kept her head down, looking at her fists in her lap. Her "aunt" saw her while making dinner, and sighed._

_"Leiko," Tsubaki said, sitting across from her. Her eyes were as red and puffy as Leiko's. "If you're anything like your father, I know what you're thinking about."_

_"And what's that," she asked in a low, weak voice._

_"I can't even imagine losing my parents, but I know you need closure. You know that as your guardians, BlackStar and I need to-"_

_"To what?" Leiko shouted, cutting Tsubaki off. She looked at her aunt with bloodlust blazing in her eyes. "_Protect_ me? That isn't an option anymore! Cassandra is out for blood, _my _blood! I'm damn sure I can kill her! I'll eat her soul, just to rub it into her devilish face! I need to escort that bitch to the gates of Hell myself for closure!" Leiko stood up from the table, and walked to the door._

_"Leiko," Tsubaki said, standing up. "Revenge isn't the answer right now!"_

_"I'm sure as hell it is, Tsubaki," Leiko said, reaching for the door. Before she could open it, BlackStar blocked the doorway, arms crossed._

_"I can't let you go, Leiko," he said seriously. "I promised Maka and Soul we'd protect you, especially if that means keeping you away from that witch."_

_"Move," Leiko said darkly, her hair covering her face and shadowing her eyes, not knowing her madness was starting to surface. Her blade arm appeared, identical to her father's. "Or I'll move you myself."_

_"Listen to yourself, kid," BlackStar said, pushing her hair away from her face. "You have no idea what it's like to fight a witch _alone_."_

_"And you expect me to leave it to you two? Or Uncle Kidd? Just because you defeated Ashura doesn't mean I'm no weaker than you!" Leiko shouted, gray circles appearing around her crimson eyes. BlackStar was taken off guard, and had no idea she could use the madness like her father could. Leiko smirked, and pushed him out of the way. Before she could leave, BlackStar grabbed her hood, pulling her back._

_"Tsubaki, she can use it too," he muttered. He pulled Leiko in front of him, looking into her eyes. "No matter what it tells you, don't give into it, Leiko!"_

_Suddenly, she snapped out of the mad trance, her eyes widening, and her blade turning back to normal. She looked at her hands, dumbfounded._

_"What was that," she muttered. She shook her head, and looked at her guardians. "Well? What did I do?"_

_"Nothing, for now," Tsubaki said. "Get some rest, hon. It's late."_

_"Alright," she muttered, walking to the guest room. Once she closed the door, her eyes darted to the window. She smirked, and opened it just enough to sneak out of. "I'm not weak, Uncle BlackStar. I _will_ destroy her."_

_That night, Leiko ran towards her Uncle Stein's lab, sneaking past the security, using techniques she learned from one of her computer-savvy team mates. She tip toed into the deepest part of his lab, looking for the device._

_"C'mon, it's here somewhere," she muttered. She dug through file cabinets, and shelves, only finding nothing. While leaning on a wall, resting, she felt a crack in the wall that slightly outlined a perfect square. She smirked, and removed the small square of drywall, revealing a hidden compartment that held the watch she hoped for._

_The device was a small black digital watch that read not only time, but a date as well. Stein had developed it for a form of time travel. The only cut back to it was that the energy source was only usable for two trips: one to a different time, and one home. Knowing that it was only a prototype, she strapped it onto her wrist anyway. She set the watch for the month of her graduation, and pressed go._

_Leiko blacked out, feeling the worst feeling that no words could describe. She woke up moments later, surrounded by a few students, her mother, and her Uncle Stein, in the past infirmary of the DWMA._

* * *

"What a shock that was," Leiko muttered, chuckling. "Who knew Mama cared for me _before_ I was born."

* * *

**Author's Note: GAAHH IT'S SO SHORT DLFHDOWIFHOIRWHGFOIEHG**

**Okay, now that that's out of my system, I do apologize for this being so short ^^; It's pretty much just one giant flashback, for clarification reasons and maybe some interesting stuff for future chapters OR sequels O:!**

**Remember: Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**~ Nicole**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The next few weeks went on slowly, but surely, for Leiko. She had been on house arrest since her battle with Cassandra. She lazed around the apartment when Soul and Maka had school, and listened to all the drama Maka had spewed from her head after the two had arrived home. Every few nights, the whole group would meet at the apartment, or at a park or something, to catch up. She hadn't seen any sort of black dove since the first night back in the apartment.

It didn't take too long before Leiko was back in the DWMA. However, any kind of mission was off limits for the first two weeks of her return. While her whole team was off visiting great places, she was stuck in class, constantly being asked about her madness, and why she can't math wavelengths with anyone, never mind about the scars that poked out the top of her shoulder-sleeveless shirt. It quickly got on her nerves, to where she was contemplating flipping out on the whole class.

It had been the end of her two week limit for missions, and Leiko was dying to go someplace. During study hall, her last period of the day, she and Maka were working on their piles of homework in the library. The boys were no where to be found.

"Have you two seen BlackStar at all?" Tsubaki whispered, walking to their table. Maka and Leiko both shook their heads, and shrugged.

"Haven't seen 'em all day," Leiko whispered. "They're probably ditching, those idiots."

Maka and Tsubaki giggled, and the two original seated girls went on with their work. Tsubaki grabbed a book, and relaxed in her own imagination. Leiko finished her work rather quickly compared to any regular student, but she got her brains from her mother. She wandered around the library, running her fingertips along the spines of the books. Before she completely missed it, a rather large book with golden lettering on the spine caught her attention.

"Hm?" Leiko pulled the book off from the shelf, shifting her wait to one leg as she read te cover. She muttered the title to herself, "_All Known Evils in This World_."

She sat back in her seat, and flipped through the pages quickly. Flashes of illustrations from the pages sailed over her eyes. She saw flickers of animals, witches, kishins, anything that could be considered "evil." She shifted the thousands of pages back to the table of contents, and skimmed down the hundreds of subject chapters hidden within the book. Her hand rested next to the word, "_Witches,"_ and quickly flipped to the paged indicated.

The first page of one of the longest chapters in the book was filled to the brim of information _generally_ about witches, common knowledge to a DWMA student. She flipped through the pages, and saw sections dedicated to specific witches. Her eyes stung when her hand landed on a page marked with _her_ name.

"Cassandra," she growled under breath. The book depicted a perfect picture of the witch that plagues her. Across from the human picture, was one of a black dove with feathers that faded to blood red tips, along with bright blue eyes. She didn't need to read anything about this witch, already knowing what she can do. Something told her otherwise.

Leiko read each sentence twice, looking for some kind of weakness. Barely remembering the whole battle she was in, she only knew a fraction of what really happened, and was too afraid to ask her roommates anything about it. All the book told her was the extent of her powers, and what significance she has had with the past. The last few sentences shed light on a way to defeat her. Leiko's serious gloom brightened into a smirk, closed the book with a cocky slam, and returned it to the shelf it laid on earlier.

"Leiko?" Maka whispered as Leiko packed her bag. Leiko only put a finger to her lips, smiling, and walked out of the library. While walking out of the library and to her locker, she met Professor Stein.

"Why, hello Leiko," he said, smiling. Shivers crawled down her spine and Stein clicked the screw in his head.

"Hey, Professor," she said, putting book into her locker. "Anything I can do for ya?"

"How're your wounds feeling? Anything odd?" Leiko shook her head, and looked at Stein, leaning against the wall of lockers, arms crossed. He smirked, and Leiko raised an eyebrow. "The resemblance is like one I've never seen."

Realizing what he meant, her face flushed. She stuck her head in her locker, pretending to look for a book.

"I have no idea what you mean," she said, looking around for eavesdroppers.

"Of course you do," he taunted. "It's uncanny, really. The fact that you have matching scars now, Fate must be cruel. I'm surprised Maka hasn't caught on yet."

"Obviously she won't," Leiko said in a whisper. "From what Mama told me, she doesn't know about her feelings for Daddy yet. I'll be outta here and home before she does."

"I've never understood feelings like _love_," he replied, almost shuttering at the word. Leiko smirked, and slammed her locker shut, looking at Stein.

"Sure you don't," she said, walking past him. "Miss Marie does, though."

* * *

Leiko was sitting in the apartment, taking up all the room on the couch. She laid there to think about what the book had said. She sighed, knowing what she had to do. To kill Cassandra for good, she had to put her friends in danger, potentially deleting her whole existence. Leiko took the pillow from behind her head, and covered her face.

"I hate the space-time continuum," she muttered into the pillow. Knowing the obvious, if one component from the past associated with something from the future is taken away, that future item cannot exist. If an apple was sent to the past, and the bee that pollinated the bloom was killed by something before it pollinated the bloom due to the apple's presence, both the bee _and _the apple would seise to live, the apple not even in existence. Leiko being the apple, along with Maka and Soul being the bloom and the bee.

The idea of trying to stop Cassandra in the past was wrecking the chances of Leiko returning to her home alive. However, this was the only way to stop her parents' deaths. She sighed, realizing the situation she put herself, _and_ the people around her, in.

Then again, Leiko knew she could fix everything. She _was_ her father's daughter, was she not? No one could doubt it, even if they wanted to. Her whole appearance mimicked her father. If anyone wanted to question paternity, they'd question Maka's part.

In her thoughts, Maka walked through the apartment door, stomach roaring. In fact, that's what broke Leiko out from her in depth thinking.

"Hey, Maka," she said, sitting up on the couch. Maka slumped next to her, holding her stomach. "You alright?"

"I skipped lunch to study," she said, her stomach cutting her off. Leiko shook her head, and walked into the kitchen.

"You know better, Miss Albarn." Leiko said, looking in the fridge. "Whatcha hungry for?"

"It's okay, I'll just wait for dinner." Maka replied. "Soul's cooking tonight, anyway."

"From what I've heard, the boys are no where to be found," she said, looking in the fridge. "I can make a late lunch, or early dinner, your choice."

"I can't believe that they ditched!" Maka said, sitting at the kitchen island. She rested her head on her arms, stomach roaring for food.

"Late lunch it is," Leiko said, grabbing a few slices of cheese. She turned on the stove, threw on a pan, and started to butter a few pieces of bread. "I have no idea where they could've went. Maybe a mission?"

"Nah, Soul can't fight anything like that without me," Maka said, chuckling. "He's tried to use BlackStar as his weapon, but it didn't work out well."

"I'm sure it went better than when BlackStar tried to use me," Leiko replied, putting together some perfectly grilled cheese sandwiches. "I've never had such a bad reaction like that before, actually."

"Really?" Maka asked, her stomach melting at the smell of grilled cheese. Leiko gave her a plate with two sandwiches on it, each cut into triangles.

"Yeah, but somehow I still got accepted into an elite group. It was probably because of my triple threat," she said, smirking. "Being a meister _and_ a scythe with a double edge ain't too common, nevertheless being able to use it in battle as well as a meister could."

"Your parents must be really proud, Leiko," Maka said, devouring the first sandwich. Leiko looked down, her eyes shadowed over. They stung again. She wiped her eyes, and shook her head. "Are you okay?"

"What about your parents, Maka?" Leiko asked, trying to get off the subject of her parents. "What are they like?"

Leiko already knew about Maka's parents, from household stores to legends of the DWMA. Uncannily, she saw her grandfather on her mother's side like her mother did. She never knew much about Maka's mother, however. All Leiko really knew was that she made Spirit a Death Scythe, and was always traveling.

She didn't know much about her father's family, either. From experience, Leiko knew that her uncle wasn't her father's favorite person, while having a complicated relationship with his parents. She never knew to what extent, but could feel the tension during a gathering.

"Well, my mama is a great, strong, and amazingly smart woman. She turned my papa into a Death Scythe when they were students," Maka said. Leiko nodded, already knowing the whole story. "Then they got divorced because Papa is a disgusting cheater."

"Right," Leiko replied, making another sandwich for herself. "Where is your mom, anyway? And how was that sandwich?"

"I really don't know," she replied, chuckling. "She's always traveling, sending post cards from time to time. It was great, by the way." Leiko smiled, and finished hers.

Before they could finish their conversation, Soul walked into the apartment, his face looking as thought he'd see something terribly disgusting.

* * *

**Author's Note: LDFJHDFLKDSHFLKADSHG INSIDE SHIPPING XD I know, it's been a while since I've posted anything, and I apologize. School started last Wednesday, and I am now a Junior in high school! :D! Wish me luck XD Plus, you can check out my DeviantArt journal from today to explain part of it, lol. Remember: Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**~ Nicole**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"What happened to you?" Leiko asked Soul as he sat on the couch, covering his face with one of the pillows.

"That fucking sword, and his damned provisions," he said into the pillow. He pulled it away from his face, and screamed to the world, "Why couldn't Hero just keep him?"

"Excalibur," Maka said, chuckling.

"Who?" Leiko asked, confused.

"I'm protecting you by _not_ telling you who that annoying piece of scrap metal is," Soul said, dragging himself to the fridge.

"I'll tell you later," Maka said, chuckling. Leiko nodded, and watched Soul scramble for anything to make dinner from. "Don't tell me you didn't go grocery shopping."

"Well, I was being tortured by our so called 'friends,' so I couldn't grab any food," he said.

"Why'd you go see him anyway?"

"I lost a game of hoops," he said casually. "And being I played against Kidd and BlackStar, they know how to hit you where it hurts."

"Right," Leiko said. "I made Maka and I grilled cheese, so you have time to buy food for a late dinner."

"Can't we just get pizza or something?"

"It's your night to cook, Soul." Maka said, crossing her arms.

"Pizza sounds good," Leiko said cheerfully, trying to divert the two from a fight.

"See? I'll pay," Soul replied, pointing at Leiko.

"We made a deal when we moved in. It's _your_ night to cook, not Pizza Hut's," Maka replied.

"I don't think it's a big deal," Leiko said quietly. "I mean, he's paying, so he's getting the food."

"Thank you!" Soul said, grabbing his phone. Before he could dial for food, Maka grabbed his phone away. "Hey!"

"You're cooking, no exceptions," she said, holding his phone behind her back.

"Gimme my phone!" Soul said, reaching for it back. Maka backed up, smoothly and fluently. Soul went at her again, but her dodge training gave Maka the upper hand.

"Alright," Leiko said, waving her hands in front of them. "Can't we just talk about it?"

"It's your night to cook!" Maka yelled, holding Soul's phone above her head. "Just man up for once!"

"Man up? I'm the one who takes the beating in a fight!" Soul yelled, almost tackling Maka. He had his arm scythe-ready to knock his phone out of his partner's hands. That's when Leiko's temper control ended.

"That's enough!" Leiko yelled, standing in between the fighting students, both of her arms morphed into scythes. Maka leaned away, like she would an attack. Soul threw his scythe arm in front of him, scratching and screeching against Leiko's, sending a few sparks into the air. "You're acting like two damn three year olds!"

Soul and Maka glared at each other as Leiko glared at each of them separately. They knew how they were acting was immature, but they each had their own reason. Maka, knowing she'd never break the rules, wanted Soul to keep his word and cook. Soul, feeling as he should keep his promise and deliver dinner, would pay for some take out. Leiko pushed them away from each other slowly, inch by inch, until they were at least half a foot from the edges of her blades.

"Now," she said, pulling her arms back to normal. "You two better get back on each others' good sides, or I'm gonna finish it."

Soul and Maka watched as Leiko walked away from the room, and into the bathroom. Maka clearly understood why she was apart of an elite group of weapons and meisters: Leiko was a natural born leader.

How Leiko managed the two of them, trying to compromise, then controlling what could've been a stupid fight, is a clear indicator why she graduated. Maka wouldn't be surprised if she was the leader of her group, despite not having a meister or weapon to use during battle. However, she did almost as well and she and Soul did by herself. It was like the battle skills were handed to her on a silver platter.

* * *

Leiko sat in the bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror. She shrugged her shoulders, one of her scars peeking out. She turned, and saw the two on her back crawl out from the edge of her shirt. Pulling up the bottom of her shirt, she revealed the scar going across her chest and stomach, reminding her of the terrible loss against Cassandra.

"I need to kill her," Leiko muttered, looking into the sink. "Now."

She looked back up to her reflection, and sighed. The crimson orbs that defined her eyes belonged to her father, not her. So did her teeth, her hair, her face, even her scythe blade. She was a replica of her dad, which burned her to her core. Ever since her emerald eyes faded to blood red, she was compared to her father.

Her skills, how she acted, how she scored in the academy; it was all based off of her father's own past. Never mind having one of his best friends being the head of the academy. Only if she still had her mother's eyes, she could finally be her own person. Maybe this will all change once she gets back home, with her parents at home to ask about how school was.

Leiko looked out the small window in the bathroom, peering into the street. Sh watched cars zoom by, watching history pass by her with every second. She sighed, and looked back at he reflection, and thought about home. Eyes stinging, she chuckled.

"They probably thought I ran away," she muttered to herself. Leiko pulled her wrist up, looking at the watch. It read the correct date, and she wondered if it was all worth it.

Knowing that her parents are alive, but dead at the same time, she could live with her Aunt Tsubaki and Uncle BlackStar. The two being almost life-long partners, they knew Leiko and what made her tick, almost as well as her parents did.

However, they had no clue on how to raise a teenager, being they aren't "together" and don't have kids. BlackStar has always been a huge kid, himself. Plus, how could Leiko just forget about what happened? If she had no way to fix it, she'd feel better about staying with the two. Leiko knew she had to fix what Cassandra did, especially since she got this far.

"No one cuts me up and gets away with it," she muttered. A knock on the door made her jump a mile out of her skin.

"Leiko?" It was Maka. "Pizza's here," she said cheerfully. Leiko chuckled, since they made up.

"Be out in a minute," she replied. She looked at herself again in the mirror, and heard Soul drop something on the carpet, followed by Maka's ridicule. She chuckled, and walked outside. Her nose was blissfully greeted with the smell of Red-Potato Pizza.

* * *

In about a half hour, the pizza was devoured. Two slices went to Maka, three to Leiko, and the last three to Soul. The only drastic difference was that Soul ate his three in a matter of minutes. Maka and Leiko finished their shares at about the same time. The three laid on the couch, stuffed.

"Not all my ideas are bad ones." Soul said, picking his teeth.

"Yeah, not _all_ of them." Maka replied, rolling her eyes. Leiko chuckled, and yawned. "Leiko, I've been thinking about Ca-"

"What about her?" Leiko said, unamused and quiet, looking at her hands in her lap.

"If she's in Death City, she can't release her Soul Protect without being swarmed with meisters and weapons," she started. Leiko's gaze stayed on her closed fists. "Besides, a black dove isn't too common, so she'd be easy to spot if she's in her animal form. I think we have a good chance at finding her."

"Maka, she's more clever than that," Soul said, sitting up with his elbows on his knees. "That was made blatantly obvious in the cave fight. Put your mind in a witch's head, one of the first witch's head."

"I know what she can do, personally." Leiko said, looking at Soul and Maka. "You may not understand why I'm doing this, and I _know_ you can't sympathize for me. I know her plan, and it's something none of us can avoid or turn around."

"Which is?" Maka asked. Leiko pointed to her chest.

"Cassandra aims for the heart." Leiko said. Her tongue and lips burned as she hissed out the witch's name. "She tears you apart by striking what means most to you. I destroyed one of her prized chimeras on a mission, so she went after my parents, then after me. I need to find her. _I_ need to destroy her."

Soul looked at Maka, and Maka looked at him. They could feel their agreement, and nodded. Leiko stood up, and walked to the door.

"You're going _now_?" Maka asked, standing up.

"Doves aren't nocturnal," she said, smirking. "Witches are."

"You seem pretty confident, Leiko." Soul said, smirking an identical smile, standing next to his partner, arms crossed. "Sure you can do this?"

_I'm an Evans, aren't I? _ Leiko thought to herself. She smiled, and looked at her roommates. She nodded, and turned to the door.

"If I don't come back," she started. Leiko looked into the hallway, and sighed. "If I don't come back, I went home."

"You're not coming back?" Maka asked, disappointed.

"Maybe I will," she said, leaning against the doorjamb. "If I do, I can't stay for long. I have duties back home, ya know. Besides, I'm Leiko Evans. I can kick all kinds of ass."

* * *

**Author's Note: UUGGHHHH IT'S SO LATE AND SMALL I'M SO SORRY DFKGHEIOHFOWIUGJFOLV**

**Anyway, Yeah, it's not my longest or best chapter :/ BUT! We're getting close to the final battle! Maybe closer than you think ;) Remember the organization RRE: Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**~ Nicole**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Leiko left the apartment, closing the door behind her. Maka looked at Soul, who was smirking.

"What are thinking?" Maka asked, crossing her arms. Soul walked to his partner, and wrapped an arm around her neck, her face flushing a bit.

"Let's go on a stakeout tonight," he said, chuckling.

"Soul Evans," Soul cringed when he heard his real name. "You heard her as well as I did. Leiko needs to do this by herself. Cassandra is weaker, now, anyway. And besides, if she needs help, she'll find a way to get us. If she doesn't, she'll head home and be done with her mission."

"C'mon, maybe we'll find a serial killer or two on the loose and use them as an excuse," he said, pleading. "The last big mission we actually _won_ was the one in Turkey, and I didn't even get to eat his soul." Soul grumbled the part about eating. Maka just rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms.

"No," she said, looking out the window. She watched Leiko walk across the street, and into the city wide system of alley ways. "I have a feeling she can handle this."

"You say that for everything, Maka." Soul said, plopping down on the couch again.

Leiko held her arms as the cold breeze hit her like a Sac-O-Bricks. Goosebumps flowed onto her skin in a matter of seconds, coating her arms and neck. She felt the tingling of her stitches rest against her cold skin. Her hair fell behind her shoulders, following the wind. She tilted her head to the right, then the left, hearing pops and cracks of her neck. That just sent more chills down her spine.

"I should've brought a jacket," she muttered. Leiko's crimson orbs drifted from the ground to the crescent moon. It's snickering teeth were dripping more blood than usual, signifying something was wrong, blood was being shed.

_How are you going to do this, Leiko?_ The little demon was poking at the insides of her head. She closed her eyes, and shook him out of her thoughts. _You can't get rid of me, sweetheart. I'm the-_

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, the hell inside my head, I get it," Leiko said out loud, clearly annoyed. "Just bug off, will ya?" The voice stopped, and Leiko chuckled. "Damn right. Now, where can I find her?"

Suddenly, a wave of force hit Leiko's stomach, and blasted inside her head. A _huge_ soul just appeared out of no where, halfway into the forest.

"A witch's soul," she muttered. Leiko grinned, almost wickedly, and booked it towards her hunt.

* * *

Maka's eyes dilated, feeling the sudden force that echoed in the pit of her stomach. She ran towards the window, trampling Soul's feet.

"Hey! Watch it, Maka," he grumbled, cracking his toes. "What's the rush?"

"A Soul Protect just went off," she said, looking at the forest. She saw a huge burst of energy, and a huge black sphere erupt from the forest's tree tops. It was reeking with madness, wings sprouting from the soul wavelength, each dripping with blood-looking liquid. Maka glared at the invisible force, realizing who it belonged to. "Cassandra."

"You sure?" Soul asked, his tone deathly serious. He walked to his partner, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Positive. No witch's soul is _that_ big and _that_ old," she said. Maka ran to her room, and slipped her sneakers on. "I can feel Leiko picking it up, too."

"I thought you said we had to let her do this on her own," Soul said, throwing his own shoes on.

"It's a meister's duty to apprehend any witch near Death City, mission responsible or not." Soul smirked, and nodded.

"That's why you're the coolest meister a weapon could have," he said as he morphed into his scythe form. Maka grabbed her weapon, and bursted out the door and into the city, heading for the forest. "Any idea where she is?"

"Near the same cave we fought her in."

"She's that stupid? Isn't that a bit predictable?"

"She's one of the oldest witches to exist, Soul," Maka said, looking at her partner. "She has a plan, and knows we're coming. The best thing we can do is distract her from looking for Leiko."

"Alright, you're the meister." Soul said, rolling his weapon form's single eye.

* * *

"You're kidding me," Leiko said to herself as she faced the same cave entrance as her first brawl with Cassandra. She sighed, shrugging her shoulders. Her right arm was transformed into her double-edged scythe blade, inches from the ground. It had grown with the adrenaline rush, as well as her madness peaking near Cassandra's own.

She sighed, and closed her eyes. Her own soul looked for the core of Cassandra's. Of course, it was somewhere in the cave. She could feel it was even deeper in the cave, deeper _underground_. Leiko nodded, and walked in.

As she walked, the walls seemed to crumble with every step. It seemed as if they aged in her absence. Maybe this meant Cassandra was weaker than Leiko had thought.

"No, don't underestimate," she said, shaking her head. Leiko rolled her shoulders back, hearing more pops and cracks. Suddenly, her Soul Perception located where Cassandra's soul was: directly beneath her. "That can't be."

"_Dove's glove, dove's glove_," voiced an eery witch's hiss that echoed all round Leiko.

Before she could think, a black hand reached up from the shadows around, and grabbed her, squeezing the life from her lungs. The hand crashed through the ground, leaving a huge sink hole in it's place. It rushed to where it was summoned, cutting Leiko's face up with every new layer of rocks and clay. It melted into almost black dirt, slamming Leiko's body onto the ground.

Leiko's eyes opened slowly as she absorbed the room around her. It was abnormally peaceful. There was green grass all around her splotch of black dirt. The underground cave was littered with species of trees and plants she's never seen; species that adapted to live in the dark. Around her was a ring of water, acting as a barrier from any kind of doorway out of the cave. In the distance, there was a deeper thicket with several lit torches. There were more lit torches surrounding the circle, giving minimal light. As her vision blurred in an out, a blue figure appeared before her.

A bare foot stepped on her scythe blade, pinning it to the ground as the madness burned and bubbled her metallic arm.

"Dammit!" Leiko shrieked as she pulled her blade away, slicing the bottom of Cassandra's foot. Leiko looked at her blade, feeling the burning go up her arm. Cassandra's madness was so out of control, it burnt holes _into_ her blade. She morphed her arm back, only to expose second, almost third degree burns all up her right arm.

"Whoops," Cassandra giggled. She walked to Leiko, leaving a trail of single bloody footprints. "Looks like things are getting too _heated_." Cassandra hissed the last word, her blue crystalloid eyes glowing. "Is it too much for you, _little girl?"_

"Pssh, you nuts?" Leiko taunted, sitting back with her arms crossed. She cringed a bit as her open blisters rubbed against her arm and shirt, but shrugged it off. "I haven't even gotten warmed up yet."

"You better hope Soul and Maka don't find the little hole my hand made; or else all three of you will be out of existence."

"You _really_ think you're hot stuff, don't cha?" Leiko taunted, standing up. She morphed her right arm back to a scythe, the melted holes reappearing.

"Oh sweetie," Cassandra said, chuckling and narrowing her eyes. "You really think I don't know what your plan is? I've been watching you _and_ your 'friends' at the DWMA. I can see your every move. Unlike that little witch Arachne, I know what I can handle." Leiko chuckled, and pulled her arm back. Cassandra's grin faded into a scowl as she spread her arms to the side. "What's so funny?"

"You just called yourself an old hag!" Leiko said, laughing. Cassandra grinned, keeping her eyes locked on that double edged blade.

"You're just like your father: Ignorant, selfish, and everything in between." Leiko's mood made a total 180, her temper boiling over. If anything could make her mad, it would be insults to her family.

"Don't you _dare_ talk about a Death Scythe like that!" Leiko yelled, lunging at Cassandra. Not only did she see this coming, but Cassandra clapped her hands together, catching the blade without flinching, or fail. It was inches from her face, her reflection boasting in the blade.

Leiko was taken off guard, realizing her strategy and power. She pulled her blade back, the madness of the witch melting the very tip of her blade. She could feel the burns on her fingers forming. She stepped back, eyes locked on the witch.

"I know what makes you tick, Leiko." Cassandra cooed, walking ever so smoothly towards her prey. "I can easily destroy you right now. However, I think I want to play with my food before eating it tonight."

"Like I did with your chimera? Damn, his soul was _delicious_," Leiko growled, pulling her blade back, grinning almost evilly. "That stupid lion-snake-goat thing just wouldn't die without some of that lead, now would it? I wonder if your soul tastes anything like his!"

"_You'll pay for what you did to my precious chimera!_" Cassandra yelled, lunging at Leiko, madness blazing. Granted, it was nothing like the Kishin's madness. However, it did distract Leiko enough to be grazed by Cassandra's metal feathers. Small beads of blood raced down Leiko's cheek and right shoulder, her hair disturbing her sight in a layer of white. When Leiko turned to reestablish her sight, the room was empty.

"The hell," she muttered, frantically looking around. I quick splash of water queued her into the fight once again, flipping over herself and charging towards the moat.

There was the witch, hovering over the water. Her soul unleashed itself to Leiko's Soul Perception in the form of black and red wings again. Her eyes faded from blue to deep red, similar to Leiko's. As Leiko charged, the witch charged back. her nails extended to talons, as Leiko's scythe blade expanded. Both weapons clashed, sending sparks into the air and creating a physical stalemate.

"You'll never win," Cassandra growled, pushing against Leiko. She grunted at Cassandra's strength, but used all her might to push back.

"I promised I would destroy you," she said through clenched jaws. "I _always_ keep promises!"

Leiko screamed, using all her might and anger to throw Cassandra back, and into the moat. She stood at the edge, sweat and blood dripping down her face. The witch surfaced from the water, her once fluffy ginger hair sticking to her face in a deep red mess.

"Do it," the witch said angrily. "End me, do it!"

Leiko raised her blade, feeling the best she's ever felt. Right before she released all the pain and suffering into the last blow, Cassandra grinned. Right then, Leiko knew what had happened.

"_Dove's glove, dove's glove_," Cassandra chanted. A pitch black hand rose from her soul wavelength, and shot into the cave above her. Two estranged screams filled and echoed in the caves.

Leiko's eyes contracted, realizing what Maka and Soul had done.

* * *

**Author's Note: Haha! One last cliff hanger :3 We're reaching the very end of the rope here, and I know ****_exactly_**** what will happen! I hope all you readers are excited to experience what my twisted mind has to offer you. Remember: Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**~ Nicole**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Cassandra laughed as her black hand smashed Maka and Soul into the ground, the same way she did Leiko. Maka used Soul's staff as leverage to help her gain her stance.

"What the hell did I tell you?" Leiko screamed at Maka, rage fuming. "I got this!"

"It's my duty as a meister to apprehend any evil soul near Death City," she said, standing.

"I felt the need to kick some ass," Soul said from his weapon form's void. Leiko growled, and turned back to Cassandra, who was grinning evilly.

"Don't you dare touch them, witch," she said. "Or else."

"Or else what? You'll kill me?" Cassandra taunted. She stood up, and floated into the air. "Four little words can destroy your very being right now. You know what they are, Missy." Leiko growled at Cassandra, eyes narrowed.

"This fight is between me and you, _not_ them," she said, looking at Cassandra dead in the eyes. "You know that."

"Oh, but honey," the witch cooed. She disappeared, for a moment, then reappeared behind Maka. She put a hand on her side, and grabbed Soul's staff, burning the two of them. "I'd rather kill them now then later!"

"Maka! Soul!" Leiko screamed as she ran to their sides. Soul had transformed back to his human form, curled in a ball next to Maka, who was crouching over her stomach on her side. Both of them had burn marks going through their clothes, and right to their skin, identical to the ones on Leiko's arm. "You bitch!"

"Naughty, naughty language there." Cassandra mocked, who sat in mid air, taking pleasure in the pain that radiated from the two partners. She watched the two DWMA students cower and shake from the fear, and the pain. She was too engulfed in their suffering to realized that Leiko was already striking at her.

At the moment before the last blow, Cassandra caught wind of her surroundings, and disappeared into down feathers, reappearing meters away. Leiko growled, ready for another try at her. She noticed blood dripping from Cassandra's neck, right above her shoulder. She looked back at the pile of dove down, and noticed the stain of splattered over the feathers. Leiko smirked, knowing Cassandra wasn't all she claimed to be.

In her mind, she started plotting. Cassandra's state of madness was so matured, she would stop and let her guard down to watch someone in pain. That was the perfect time to strike, when she was distracted.

_I can't use Mama and Daddy as punching bags while I scratch up her throat,_ Leiko thought, realizing the flaw in her plan. However, a memory projected itself into her intrigue.

* * *

_Cassandra advanced towards Maka, and clawed at her again. Maka leaned back, dodging her by centimeters, smelling the polish on her fingers. Cassandra's eyes were contracted, and her smile was full of madness. She pulled her hand back, and shot the other right for Maka's stomach. Not seeing this quick enough, Maka didn't move, and Soul screamed at her to fall back._

_The sound of metal scratching metal ricochet echoed throughout the cave as Leiko stood between Maka and Cassandra, her own double-edged blade arm breaking the witch's metal nails. The witch's evil glare melted into one of surprise and disgust._

_"Too bad you can only focus on one future," Leiko muttered, looking down with blood dripping from her face and mouth as she flashed her shark teeth. "Didn't even see me coming."_

* * *

"That's it!" Leiko shouted out loud, smiling. Her plan was now fool proof. Leiko stood in front of the two students, scythe arm transformed back into her human appendage. "Maka, Soul, you okay?"

"Of course." Maka replied, standing up. "Soul?"

"Already there," he said, transforming back into his scythe form. "Got a plan, Leiko?"

"Yup," she said, smirking a shark-tooth filled snicker. "I just need one thing of you two."

"What's that?" Maka asked grinning, her fighting stance appearing. Leiko held out her right hand, and closed her eyes.

"Give me Soul," she said. Maka's face went from filled with courage and confidence to pure confusion and let down.

"Excuse me?" The two students asked in unison. Neither of them could comprehend the idea of Leiko trying to resonate souls with someone, and it _actually_ working. Even Cassandra didn't see this coming. She was too focused on their pain. Soul transformed back into his human form, scratching his head.

"I thought you said no one could resonate with you," he said. Leiko looked back, her smirk melting into a serious leer.

"Just trust me, okay?" Leiko said, holding her hand out. Soul and Maka exchanged looks, and nodded. Soul's body flashed white, then appeared in Leiko's hand as a scythe. She smiled, and grabbed the staff with both hands, ready to fight. "Maka, she can only focus on one future at a time. Make yourself interesting to look at. When I say so, be ready to catch a scythe."

"Right," she replied. Maka ran to the witch, taunting her with any kind of motion and move she could.

"You sure we can do this?" Soul asked, his reflection appearing in the blade. Leiko looked at him, and nodded. "Alright, you're the meister this time."

"Just try to keep up," Leiko said, her glare returning to Cassandra. She closed her eyes, as did Soul. In unison, their soul wavelengths began to match.

"Soul Resonance!" Leiko and Soul said together, red and yellow flashed of electricity and wavelengths zooming around the team.

_Their souls match almost perfectly,_ Maka thought to herself as she teased the witch. _Almost as well as when Soul and I resonate_.

Leiko slammed the base of Soul's staff on the ground, creating cracks that spread all across the ground. The power coming from the two was immense, but not what Leiko could fully do. Her crimson eyes started to glow as she lifted Soul, and charged.

"Maka, now!" Leiko shouted. Maka nodded, and jumped into the air, prepared to catch a hold of her partner. What happened next, Maka wasn't so ready for. "Soul, get ready!"

Leiko jumped into the air, and dropped the scythe that was Maka's partner. He transformed back into his human form, face full of confusion. Maka's expression mimicked his own. Suddenly, Leiko's body flashed white, and zipped into Maka's right hand, forming a full double-edged scythe, her reflection glistening in the blade. Maka landed on her feet, amazed at the weapon she held.

Leiko's full scythe form was definitely the side of her powers that came naturally. The transition was flawless, especially since she hadn't used this form since her childhood. Her doulbe-edged blade had two lines of red, one on the top and one on the bottom of the blade, making a design that looked like jaws with sharpened teeth. The middle line was black, but faded to white near the tip of the blade. There was a singular eye at the top of the staff, which was poised in a glare. Her blade was surrounded by red static. Leiko absorbed the Soul Resonance power for her last blow.

"How did she?" Soul stammered, only to be cut off by Leiko's leadership taking the limelight.

"Soul, use your arm blade to distract her," she said. Soul nodded, and rushed at the witch. "Maka, we have one shot at this. When Cassandra is purely focused on Soul, we hit her hard."

"Witch Hunter?" Maka asked, smirking. Leiko smirked back, nodding.

"Great minds think alike." Maka started to spin her first-time partner, power and electricity flying. "Now!"

"Soul Resonance!" The two girls shouted as one, their souls bonding almost instantaneously.

Maka was as surprised as she was before. She looked at Leiko's reflection in the blade. Her gaze was fixed on Cassandra, eyes still glowing. The red and yellow electricity around them was soon joined by blue from Maka's own soul. She could feel their soul wavelengths bonding, and could see her own soul appearing. Her blue soul developed around her, the Grigori wings appearing.

"Wait for it," Leiko said. Her whole body felt the surges of power, like it was going to explode.

"We can do Witch Hunter, Leiko," Maka said, pulling the weapon back.

"Wait," Leiko said. She watched Cassandra throw feathers and thrust her talons as Soul, who dodged them with barely enough time to fight back. In a flash of red, Cassandra's nails grazed Soul's arm. Blood started to flow down his elbow, and to the ground, staining his jacket. "Now!"

Maka sprinted towards the witch, holding Leiko like she weighed nothing. She jumped into the air, scythe ready to strike. The moment before the words "Witch Hunter" escaped her lips, a ripple of power raged through Maka and Leiko together, overtaking their initial thoughts. A bright red aura surrounded the two, and like it was their instinct, the pair used a totally different technique.

"_Soul Eater!_" The two screamed in unison. Maka's eyes turned completely white, and Leiko's blade turned bright red, then started to change shape. Suddenly, the blade was a reflection of Leiko's upper body and face. However, her eyes were a solid crimson red. Her shark teeth were larger, and sharper, as were her finger nails.

Cassandra's eyes darted from Soul's pain to the totally new form and move, filled with fear. A second too late, she extended her talons for a killing blow.

Leiko's new form opened it's mouth completely, overtaking Cassandra's stance. Her jaws clamped shut on the witch, her visible body shattering, and fizzling out into nothing. Maka's eyes returned to normal, then shut as she fell, unconscious. Leiko's new form returned to her scythe blade, falling to the ground with a loud clang.

"Maka!" Soul ran under where his partner was falling, and caught her before she could hit the ground. He noticed the cuts and bruises all over her from the excessive power. He'd be freaking out if it wasn't for the minimal chest movements, proving she was still breathing. He looked over at Leiko, who instinctively changed back to her human form. She had more cuts and scrapes on her than Maka did. Soul laid Maka on the ground, gently, and rushed to Leiko, shaking her shoulders. "Leiko? Wake up. Dammit, Leiko, wake up!"

Leiko's eyes fluttered open, and glanced around her. She noticed Maka sitting up from the corner of her eye, and a black aura to her right. Soul helped her sit up, and Maka was able to make her way over.

"What was that?" Soul asked.

"I don't know," Leiko muttered.

"I've never even heard of that technique, never mind seen _anything_ like it." Maka replied, holding her right arm with her left hand. Soul sat behind her, his hands on her arms. She glanced to the right, and motioned to the aura. "That's it."

Leiko looked, and her eyes began to sting. She saw what she came for, proving that she won. With every painful crawl to that witch's soul, tears streamed down her face. These tears weren't of pain, or sadness, but of happiness.

_I did it_, she thought to herself. She thought about getting her parents back, her confidence returning, her real power being revealed. Not only did this make her happy to be a meister and a weapon, but it assured her that she could fight, and that she _earned_ her elite spot. She knew that it wasn't given to her because of a name or appearance.

When her hand wrapped around the black soul, wings sprouting from it, she smiled a real smile. The first _real_ smile she had revealed since her graduation day.

"Go ahead," a voice said from behind her. Soul had snapped Leiko back into reality. She looked at him, confused. "Souls taste better when you destroyed the evil behind it yourself."

Leiko chuckled, tears streaming down her face. She smiled, revealing a mouth full of shark teeth. Her sights returned to the soul in her hands. Her smile opened wide as she popped the soul into her mouth. After chewing the evil for a few seconds, she swallowed. It didn't have a distinct taste, but it felt good going down. Cassandra's soul settled quite well in Leiko's stomach, warming her body to her very core.

"Does this make you a Death Scythe, Leiko?" Maka asked, looking at her. Leiko started to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"Like I have 99 Kishin Eggs in me?" Leiko asked sarcastically. "I got my elite spot because of performance, not because of how many souls I've collected! I only have that one chimera soul, and, like, four serial killers in me!"

Soul and Maka's reaction related to one that would fit someone saying, "Really? That's it?" Leiko chuckled as more tears ran down her face, her eyes closed.

"Let's get home, my back hurts," Soul said, standing up and stretching.

"How are we gonna get outta here?" Maka asked, seeing no exits.

"Theres a few hallways _somewhere_, how else would you get here? I say we go through that thicket," Leiko said, pointing.

The two other fighters agreed, and started the trek back home, finally triumphant.

* * *

**Author's Note: OH MAI GOWD IT"S OVER LJDOIHOHDIHUD**

**Hehe, well, not just yet ;) There are still a few loose ends to tie up, along with one last sappy Author's Note! This is like, my BEST fight scenes ever! ;^; Remember: Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**~ Nicole**


	18. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"C'mon, guys! One picture!" Maka said as she tried to tame seven other meisters and weapons to stand still while tampering with an old Polaroid camera.

"Why are we doing this?" BlackStar asked, his hands on his hips. "If you just wanted my autograph, don't be afraid to ask!"

"It's not about you, idiot." Kidd said, his arms crossed. "I assume it's to remember Leiko."

"Exactly," Tsubaki said quietly, smiling. Leiko's face flushed.

"You really don't need to, guys, seriously," she ranted, embarrassed. "I'm sure I'll see you all again!"

"Just for fun," Maka said, smiling. Leiko chuckled, and smiled back.

"Fine. This once, mkay?"

"Awesome," Maka replied. "Now, everyone pose!"

Maka set the camera on the ledge of a statue in front of the DWMA, the older device's timer light blinking. Everyone was pushing and shoving to find a comfortable spot, until the light was a solid red. The eight of them made one lsat ditch effort to smile. A large flash of white light blinded all of them, and a little piece of photo paper was dispensed from the camera.

The original seven started to complain to each other about going blind. Leiko snuck away from the group, and grabbed the Polaroid from the camera. She watched at the color faded from the black, and revealed the eight of them. Maka, Kidd, and Tsubaki all had respectable smiles on their faces, each standing. Patty and BlackStar had ridiculous and self-absorbed poses, each interfering with another person and jumping out from behind others. Liz was pushing Patty away from her, while trying to smile nice and sit like a lady on the ground. Soul had a playful smirk on his face as he tried to look annoyed at BlackStar, but she could easily tell from his smile that he didn't mind it much. He sat on the front stairs of the academy, right where Leiko had been found on the first day.

Then Leiko noticed how she posed for the picture. She stood with her wrists resting on her crouched knees. She was crouching on the ground, but her face was looking up. A part of her bangs rested in between her eyes, against her nose. Her smile was the same sharky smirk that her father always made. Along with her eyes half open, it revealed the sarcastic and playful girl behind the ink.

Leiko chuckled, and looked at the group of her friends and "soon to be family" that was bickering behind her. She called them over to look at the picture. However, she wouldn't let anyone hold it.

"I look great!" BlackStar exclaimed, throwing a fist into the air. The group started talking about how the looked. Leiko put the picture in the back pocket of her jeans, and walked away from the group.

"Leiko?" Maka asked. "Where ya going?"

"I think you know," she said, painfully smiling.

Leiko pushed the green button on her watch, and it started to flash binary code. Blue specks and particles started to flow around her as the watch began to reattach to her original time: twenty minutes before Cassandra murdered her parents.

"Leiko? What's happening?" Soul asked. Leiko chuckled, and waved as the blue particles started to cloak the view of her.

"I'll see you guys again, promise!" Leiko said, tears streaming down her face.

In a flash, Leiko disappeared from the DWMA.

* * *

Instantaneously, Leiko reappeared in her kitchen, at her real home. She felt a burning sensation on her wrist, and swatted the watch off.

"Dammit," she muttered. The device was burnt out, literally. She dunked it in a glass of water, smashed it, then buried the pieces deep in the trash can.

Leiko looked around, and saw that the house was empty. Worry filled her stomach as tears filled her eyes.

"No, I fixed everything," she said to herself out loud. She ran to the scene of the crime, and saw nothing. She saw no blood, no broken glass, but no parents as well. "No!"

Leiko screamed at the top of her lungs, sobbing into her hands as she collapsed to the floor. She was sobbing so loud, she didn't hear the trampling sound of feet running down hard wood stairs.

"Leiko? What's wrong, sweetie?" A feminine voice said. Leiko felt two caring hands on either of her shoulders, locking her into a hug.

She looked up, and saw a woman. She has long, ashen blonde hair, and a fair complexioned face. The sight of her emerald green eyes stopped Leiko's water works entirely.

Leiko jumped up and hugged her mother as tight as she could, but as quiet as a rabbit. Maka hugged back, taken away by the sudden mood swings.

"What's wrong, Leiko? Why are you crying?" Maka asked her daughter, rubbing her back. "Nerves about the new group?"

"Yeah, that's it." Leiko answered, chuckling and wiping her eyes.

"What's going on?" A man shouted from outside, bursting into the living room, completely destroying the screen slide door to the backyard, his right arm appearing as a scythe blade.

"Nothing," Maka said, chuckling. "Leiko just had a nerve scare, that's all."

"Oh," he said, returning his arm to a normal human limb. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Calm down, Soul." Maka said, rolling her eyes. "Now, Leiko. I have no idea why you aren't dressed yet, but we'll talk about that later."

"Dressed?" Leiko looked at her clothes, which were the same as when she left the past.

"Your new dress, smarty pants," her father teased. "I bet it's still hanging up."

"Remember? We're going out to celebrate," Maka said sweetly.

Leiko then noticed how sharp her parents looked. Her mother was wearing a strapless red mini dress, successfully outlining "new" her curves that obviously appeared after Leiko's appearance in the past. Her father had black slacks, accompanied by a matching red dress shirt. It obviously matched his eyes, as did his daughter's.

"Right, dinner." Leiko said, pretending to remember. But hey, who would turn down their live parents _and_ free food? "I'll be down in a sec!"

Leiko raced up to her room, where nothing had changed. It was still as messy as she left it. She ran to the book that was hidden under her bed, and flipped through it. She saw pictures of her old friends, and more recent ones of her new elite group. She went to the very back cover, and peeled a layer of paper away. She slid the photograph of her and her parents they took in the past into the new hidden compartment, then sealed it shut with mustache decorated duct tape. Feeling satisfied with hiding the evidence, she put it back between her mattress and bed frame.

"Now, a new dress," she muttered. Leiko turned to her closet, and stopped dead in her tracks. She laughed as her eyes looked over the dress. "Irony is a cruel and heartless bitch."

* * *

"It's been twenty minutes since she went up there," Soul said, impatiently tapping his foot. "How long does it take a teenage girl to get dressed?"

"Please, you lived with one since you were like, fifteen, Soul." Maka said sarcastically, standing next to her husband. "You should know."

Before Soul could offer a rebuttal, Leiko walked down the hardwood stairs. Her parents awed in her revealed beauty. Leiko assumed they never assumed she had her father's madness, considering it was the exact dress that she wore in the Black Room.

"Well?" Leiko asked, shrugging and walking towards the door. "Let's go."

When the family left the house, Leiko had forgotten to turn TV off, along with closing the windows to her room. As she stepped into the car, she could hear the television from her room outside. Some soap opera was playing.

"Nothing is more important than family, _nothing_." One of the starts said. Leiko chuckled, and nodded.

_Nothing._

* * *

**Author's Note: Now, it's finished! Here goes my sappiness :P**

**I want to thank, personally, every reader that stuck with this story. This has been mutilated, held to one spot, left and returned to again and again. Just the idea of readers sticking with me and waiting for every new chapter really does mean a lot to me, more than most will know. I hope this story has inspired my readers to write not only as well as they can, but to not be ashamed about it's content. I love all you guys!**

**~ Nicole**


	19. Forward to the Sequel

****ATTENTION!****

**For those who enjoyed ****_A Chance to Fix Everything_****, I've started a sequel to it!**

**** Chapter 1: s/9697831/1/A-Meister-s-Burden ****

**This story focuses on Leiko Evans ****_after_**** she returns to her home time, and finds life to be like normal, before Cassandra ever barged into her life. However, when a new student by the name of Dante tries to take over, what will she do?**

**Can she put her pride aside and let someone else take the wheel? Or will it be her way or the highway?**

**Will anything good come out of this new addition to her team? Or will only terror and evil arise?**

**Find out in ****_A Meister's Burden_****, the exciting new addition to the Leiko Evans' series!**

**Remember: read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**~ Nicole**

**** Chapter 1: s/9697831/1/A-Meister-s-Burden ****


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